A Goth Human and A Fishy Troll
by Gemini's-Are-Badass
Summary: Gamzee has a new human friend and she's a girl. Well, now Karkat, Sollux and Eridan are completely flushed for her. Who will with over this attractive human girl's flushed feelings? Well just read the title and take a good guess. Please if you don't like my story then stop reading. Thank you and enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

_***Gamzee's New Friend***_

Karkat Vantas sat in the living room that was usually filling with trolls either yelling, complaining, bitching or trolls trying to keep the peace among them. Although today was a particularly quiet day in the Earth home the twelve trolls shared. Terezi and Nepeta had gone with Kanaya and Rose to go shopping. Eridan was actually in his room being quiet for once and not bitching about how much better his is than everyone. Tavros had been 'whisked' away to John's place to hang out with him and Dave. Feferi had gone swimming and had somehow managed to take Vriska and Aradia with her. Equies and Sollux were in their rooms too. Sollux was no doubt on his husktop and Equies, well, Karkat didn't really know what the Sagitterius was doing at the moment, he usually kept to himself unless he was talking to Nepeta. The only troll he didn't know the whereabouts of was Gamzee, that fucking clown had just vanished from the house who-fucking-cares-when. But of course his luck decided to run out because Sollux had decided to come out of his room and start fucking with Karkat.

"Hey KK. So, whatcha up to?" Fuck. Me. That was the only thought that had crossed the Cancer's mind that moment.

"Well, if you must know you fuckass, I was TRYING to enjoy the only day of peace that had graced me today by watching one of my rom-coms but no, you had to show up and make it your FUCKING JOB to mess with me today!" Karkat let out a huff of annoyance and his eye twitched when he heard the Gemini laugh behind him.

"Well, I'm _so sorry_ I interrupted your shitty rom-com KK." Karkat was about two seconds away from bursting into a rant when Eridan had made his way into the living room just as Gamzee had walked through the door. Sollux had been saved by the two trolls unintentionally. Karkat had now turned his attention to the Capricorn standing in the door way.

"And where in the ever loving fuck have you been you damn clown!" Gamzee just stood there with that same goofy smile on his painted face. He made his way to the kitchen, opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of Faygo, and then turned back to Karkat as he opened it.

"Well, motherfucker, I was at this motherfuckin' awesome music shop visiting an awesome friend of mine." The three trolls stared at Gamzee like he was nuts. Eridan decided to chime in at this point.

"Who exactly were you visiting Gamzee?" The Aquarius troll had made his way to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, waiting for Gamzee's answer.

"Well, I met her about two motherfuckin' weeks ago and she's a pretty cool motherfucker." This still left the three trolls with a lot of questions but then Gamzee had started talking again. "Yeah, if you motherfuckers wanna meet her you can up and come with me tomorrow to the music shop she works at. Mari always enjoys some motherfucking company." That's all the others had gotten out of Gamzee before he made his way out of the room and back to his bedroom with his bottle of Faygo. The three trolls left in the room together exchanged confused and curious looks with each other.

"So, should we go?" Sollux asked sounding just as curious as he looked.

"I couldn't be that bad could it?" Eridan and Sollux looked to Karkat, waiting for his answer.

"I guess it wouldn't be so bad to meet the girl, right?" The three had made the decision to go with Gamzee the next day to meet this Mari girl. Little did any of them know what was in store for them the next morning. None of them would have ever guessed that the girl they were about to meet would cause the biggest uproar they would ever be apart of.

_*The next day*_

Gamzee was leading his three friends down the street to go see one of the most motherfucking awesome humans he'd ever met. Karkat, Sollux and Eridan followed closely behind the Capricorn, whispering to each other making assumptions about this friend Gamzee was introducing them to.

"Do you think this was a good idea Kar?" Eridan whispered over to the Cancer.

"I'm not sure at this point. We've been walking for over half an hour and I haven't seen anything that remotely looks like a music shop." Karkat looked at the surrounding are once again. It had a bunch of shops everywhere but not any music shops.

"Maybe we should all just go back home." Sollux's suggestion sounded like a good one until Gamzee had suddenly called back to them.

"We're here motherfuckers." Gamzee's ever present smile widened a bit as he walked into a store called 'Sick Beatz'. The three boys had followed Gamzee inside only to be greeted by a loud scream and the sound of CD cases hitting a floor. They rushed over to see a girl in tight black skinny jeans and ripped up dark grey belly shirt tank top that had 'BITE ME' written across it in red letters on the ground with a basket over her head.

"The fuck happened Gamzee?!" Karkat yelled at the indigo-blooded troll. Turns out, Gamzee had wound up scaring the girl by jumping out at her, causing her to throw the case she was holding into the air and it had landed on her head which had caused he to fall. An angry growl could be heard from under said case on said girl's head. She lifted the case off her head and immediately turned her attention to Gamzee who was still smiling down at her.

"God damn it Gamzee! The fuck are you trying to do kill me?! Do you not see the boots I'm wearing!? Those spikes are fucking sharp you dumbass!" The four boys looked down and just as she had said, he black boots had very shape spikes on them.

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that motherfucker." Gamzee rubbed the back of his head, still smiling though. The girl gave a sigh and got up. She brushed herself off and now that the other three trolls looked at her they saw that her hair had five different colors in it. At the top of her head there was bright yellow, then after the yellow there was a bright blue. Her bangs were a deep purple and the outer edge of her hair had been dyed red and the inner color was black, probably her natural hair color.

"You are so fucking weird sometimes Gamzee. So, who are your friends?" She had turned her attention to the trolls in front of here. Karkat cleared his coughed a little before speaking.

"I'm Karkat Vantas. Nice fucking meet you." He didn't really mean to throw in that swear it was just a habit of his and he mentally slapped himself for that.

"Sollux Captor."

"Eridan Amopra, nice to meet you." The girl seemed to just stare at them for what seemed like forever to the three boys. Then she gave a smile and laughed.

"No need to be so fucking up tight with me guys, I'm a laid back kinda girl so there's no need for formalities. Name's Mari, nice ta meet you guys." Mari's attitude just seemed to melt away all the tension the boys had been feeling since the night before but now they had a bigger problem. This girl was fucking hot. Before they even knew what was going on they were sitting in an area in the music shop where customers could relax and they were all just talking. The conversation seemed to go from one topic to the next and before anyone knew it had gotten late.

"Well, motherfucker we should be getting home." Gamzee pointed a thumb to the door.

"Yeah, Kanaya's already going to have a fit about why we were out this late." Sollux gave a groan at Karkat's statement while Eridan sighed. He was right, Kanaya might kill them for being out this late.

"Ahh no problem bro. I gotta get home anyway. This bitch need s some motherfuckin' sleep." Mari got up and stretched. "So, will I see you guys tomorrow?" The group of boys looked at each other for a second to think it over. Be in a cramped house full of trolls or kick back and hang out with Mari. The choice was obvious.

"We'll be here tomorrow for sure." Mari smiled at Karkat's answer.

"Fucking A man. Just don't scare me like jackass did today." Mari gave a glace to Gamzee and he gave her his usual laid back smile.

"No problem Mari. We'll see you tomorrow." Eridan said as he walked out of the store with the others. Once they were back at home they got lucky. Kanaya hadn't even noticed that the boys had been missing she had been preoccupied with Terezi and Nepeta with all their new clothes they had gotten the other day when shopping. The four made their ways to their respective rooms and lay down to sleep. Gamzee was able to sleep right away but Eridan, Sollux and Karkat had stayed up for a little longer, all with the same thought in their minds.

_Damn. I think I'm flushed._


	2. Chapter 2

_***Hangin' Out With Mari***_

All you heard was an alarm. Not the 'Hey motherfucker there's some serious shit wrong here!' kind of alarm, no, it was the 'Hey bitch I'm gonna fuck up your peaceful sleep!' kind of alarm. The multicolor haired girl sat up in her bed and all but kicked her alarm clock off her dresser effectively making it stop ringing. The 16 year old gave out a long yawn and sat up in her bed, thinking over whether or not she should get up today. Then she remembered her plans she had made yesterday and grinned. Mari hopped out of her bed in nothing more than a too small pajama shirt and too long pajama pants (of course a bra and panties too, that would be obvious). She went into the bathroom and gave herself a once over before brushing her teeth and running her pierced tongue over her too sharp K-9's that she prided herself on. Finished with her teeth cleaning she made her way to her kitchen, grabbed a bottle of Coke and chugged half the bottle. She released the bottle from her mouth with a sigh.

"Nothing like some sugary caffeine in the morning to start off an awesome day." Mari said to herself and smiled. She made her way back to her room and shifted through all her clothes that lay scattered across her floor. They weren't dirty she was just too lazy to bother folding them and putting them away in a cramped drawer. Her room was literally the only room in her whole house that wasn't clean. Everywhere else was spotless. She finally found a good outfit the wear. Mari went with her strapless (and sleeveless) maroon red belly shirt (if it can even be considered a shirt) with her black and red ripped up pin jeans. She wore the same boots as yesterday. The spiked boots seemed to be here most worn pair. She barely wore any other kind of foot wear.

Mari made her way back down her stairs to find her make-up. That shit always seemed to go missing no matter how hard she tried to keep it in one place. She eventually found it and put on her black eyeliner (as it was always black) and some red eye shadow. Right when she was about to leave she looked in her hallway mirror and saw that she wasn't wearing her earrings.

"Shit! I knew I was forgetting something!" Mari ran back up her stairs to her room and found all six sets of earrings. Her black diamonds went in the first holes, then her skulls, her black roses were next, then her black crosses, the in her left ear she put her cross bones in the fifth hole then her small black hoop in the sixth. In her right ear she had opted for her favorite barbell. A white base color with red splattered on it. To her it looked like blood which it why it was her favorite. Now that she was completely ready, Mari walked down the stairs for the third time that day and finally got her ass out the door. "Sometimes I feel as though I should just start keeping little reminders around my house." She thought about it for a second then snorted. "Nah." Mari finally made her way to 'Sick Beatz' to start her job, and to hang out with Gamzee and his friends.

_*At the shop*_

Mari was doing her usual at the shop. Putting CD's where they're supposed to be, fixing the radio that her boss, Luke, always seemed to fuck up, and cleaning around the place since, again, Luke didn't know the meaning of 'clean'. It wasn't a particularly busy day but she always had someone to talk to and customers to help out. When the shop was empty and she was about to kick back and relax for a little until Gamzee and the others got here but, speak of the devil clown himself, Gamzee came running through the doors and instantly hid behind her. She was thrown back a bit but she held her balance.

"Hide me motherfucker! They're trying to kill me!" Gamzee was smiling and Mari swore she hear him giggle but wasn't too focused on it when Karkat came rushing in just as fast as Gamzee did a few seconds ago.

"There you are you piss ant! Get over here! I'll fucking murder you!" Karkat made a B-line for Gamzee and Mari had almost no time to stop him.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up! What the fuck is going on here!?" Mari held onto Karkat's shoulders and tried her best to restrain the angry Cancer. Then, as if to make matters harder, Sollux and Eridan came into the shop looking just as pissed as Karkat.

"Makara!" They said in unison.

"Fuck." Mari let go of Karkat and rushed over to Gamzee and stood ing front of him as to block to evident onslaught. "Okay hold the fuck up!" The angered boys had stopped and looked directly at her. "What the fuck is going on right now!?" Gamzee let out a small honk and Karkat glared at him.

"That grub fucker decided that it was a good idea to fucking wake us all up by honking so fucking loud you think he _was _a fucking horn! Do you know my ears are still fucking ringing?!" Karkat made a move to try and get closer to Gamzee but Mari grabbed his wrist and gently pushed him back.

"Hold up okay? This _is _Gamzee we're talking about. I mean do you not remember what happened yesterday? He could've seriously got me hurt but you don't see me trying to kill the guy. Let's all just calm down." Karkat yanked his wrist out of Mari's grip and gave one last glare at Gamzee before letting out a huff of breath and looking away.

"I still wanna punch him in his face. He had no right to barge into our rooms like that." Mari sighed at Eridan's comment. The Aquarius had a point and she saw that Sollux was nodding in agreement. She turned to face Gamzee who was still hunkered down behind her. He looked up at her with a sort of guilty look on his face and gave a small honk. She sighed again.

"Gamzee, it was wrong of you to do that to the guys. How would you feel if some just came into your room and, and, uh…..! And just decided to steal your horns huh?" Gamzee's face turned into a shocked and guilty expression and he looked down at the floor. "I thought so, now apologize to your friends." Gamzee stood up but stayed behind Mari.

"I'm motherfuckin' sorry you guys." Gamzee looked back up and smiled at his friends with that same goofy smile. Mari nodded in approval then turned to the other three trolls in front of her.

"Now you three apologize to Gamzee." They looked at her like she was crazy.

"FOR FUCKING WHAT!?" Karkat nearly screamed.

"FOR TRYING TO FUCKING KILL HIM! NOW FUCKING APOLOGIZE BEFORE I SERIOUSLY GET ANGRY!" Mari's retaliation was enough to make Karkat shut up and shrink back. That in itself was something to be proud of. The boys said their 'I'm sorry's' and were now sitting in the same spot they were sitting in yesterday, but three were grumpy and one was still nervous. Mari had gone into the back to tell Luke she was leaving work early to hang out with the four boys and of course he was giving her a hard time but she had eventually won that argument. When she came back out and saw the state the four trolls were in she let out yet another sigh. This was going to be an interesting day.

"Are you four going to mope there all day or are we going to head out and have some fun?" They looked at her and saw her pointing her thumb at the door. To get their attention even more she gave them a sweet smile. The boys had practically melted at that, well Gamzee just wasn't nervous anymore, the other three, well let's just say that if they weren't in public they'd be blushing six ways to Sunday and back. They all got up. "That's much better, now get your grey troll asses up and let's go have some fun!" Her smile widened and her dark blue eyes seemed to glow. Mari gave a small jump into the air as if to emphasize the fact that they were going to have fun, and have fun they did.

Mari took them all over town. To stores she and Gamzee had deemed 'motherfucking miracles' and to different food establishments. Mari even got them into something she called a club. The place was blaring music and people were, what Mari called, dancing. They stayed there for a few good hours, had some drinks (non-alcoholic of course) and then left after some asshole decided to start a fight _way_ too close for their comfort. After the club they had all decided to take a walk to no where in particular, conversation as they did so.

"So you guys are from a place called Alternia right?" Mari started walking backwards.

"Yeah, although it wasn't anything like this place." Karkat made a hand gesture to his surrounding area.

"Earth may look nice to you but I think the place looks like shit. People are always throwing trash anywhere they want and it fucking pisses me off." She made her point by picking up a few discarded cans and wrappers and threw them away in a nearby waste bin. "So, I have a question for you guys."

"Shoot." Sollux said as he did the same as Mari had just done.

"You guys live together with eight other trolls right?" Eridan nodded. "So, does it ever get like, crazy at your house? I mean, twelve people living together seems pretty fucking crazy to me." Mari had the more curious expression on her face at that moment.

"I can answer that one. Yes, it's absolutely fucking insane in our house. There seems to be a never ending supply of things to bitch and complain about and for some fucking reason everyone just seems never want to stop. You can't get a moments fucking peace over there." Karkat crossed his arms over his chest.

"You seem to be one of the main trolls who complains Kar." Sollux started snickering at Eridan's comment. Karkat's eye twitched. Gamzee backed up. Mari started.

"FUCK OFF YOU SELF CENTERED, NO GOOD FISH FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Mari covered her ears at how loud Karkat could be. She then took her hands away from her ears and covered Karkat's ranting mouth with them.

"Jesus fucking Christ almighty Karkat! It was only a little fucking comment! No need to get so fucking pissy about it!" Karkat was huffing through her fingers and his breathing eventually slowed. "Now, I'm gonna move my hands away from your mouth. Are you gonna stop yelling? Nod yes or no." Karkat nodded yes and Mari let go. The others weren't sure if the short fused Cancer was going to continue his onslaught of bitching or if he really would stop. To the other trolls surprise he didn't yell. "Now, that's better." Mari smiled and once again Sollux, Eridan and Karkat seemed to just melt then and there.

"Hey, uh, sorry about the comment Kar." Eridan looked away and rubbed the back of his head. Karkat huffed.

"No big deal asshole. Can we just keep moving?" Mari laughed at the boys, unaware of their feeling for her.

"Well then let's get going!" Mari led the boys around the town for a little while longer until it had gotten dark. Everyone went home after saying good bye and just like the night before, Sollux, Karkat and Eridan had stayed up a little later than everyone else. All three boys now with a new but same thought on their minds.

_I think the others are flushed for her too. Fuck._


	3. Chapter 3

_***Sudden Realization***_

Eridan Amopra was sleeping peacefully and dreaming a simple dream. It was getting quiet nice, that is until a sudden crash and screaming woke him up. The aquatic troll let out a groan. _Here we go again. _He thought as he reluctantly climbed out of his bed, yawning. Eridan didn't bother to change out of his night wear as he knew he wasn't doing anything any thing that involved leave his Earth house. The only reason he left his room is because he wanted to eat breakfast before all the _real_ trouble had started. Peaking out his door to see if he would be in the clear he gave a relived sigh to see no one in the halls. The purple blooded troll made his way downstairs and saw the source of the crashing sound he had heard just a few minuets ago. Turns out Nepeta had gotten into Kanaya's fabrics. Again. And had broken Kanaya's new mirror. AGAIN. Eridan just walked by the yelling Virgo and ignored the pleading Leo who was still covered in multicolored shreds of fabric and made his way to the kitchen. Eridan grabbed a plate and some food and stood at the kitchen table to eat since all the chairs had been taken. He listened to the usual arguments.

"Damn it KK! Just fucking gimmie the God damn remote!" Sollux made a pass for the device but Karkat had moved it out of reach once again.

"Fuck you nook licker! This is the only time my shows are on and I'm damn well gonna watch them!" Karkat had started to move farther away from Sollux's reach. That continued for a good five minuets before Sollux finally gave up. Then Eridan turned his attention to Tavros and Gamzee who had been on Gamzee's husktop. Each troll had an earbud in one ear listening to who-knows-what, but both were bobbing their heads back and forth. _Must be a good song. _The Aquarius turned his attention back to Kanaya who had finally stopped yelling at Nepeta and was now making the Leo clean up her mess. Equies had come into the living room only to help out Nepeta and once they had cleaned everything he disappeared as fast as he appeared. Eridan always wondered why the Sagittarius was so anti-social, then he remembered who he lived with. _I don't blame him for being like that. If I could just stay hidden away in my room all day I would. _He went to take another bite of his breakfast but found that his plate was empty. He put his dishes in the sink, drank the last of his orange juice and slipped past the chaos that was starting to unfold. He even had to dodge a flying remote that Karkat had thrown out of rage. Looks like they needed a new one. AGAIN. Eridan had finally made it back to his room, safe and unharmed. The Aquarius really didn't feel like doing anything today so he grabbed his husktop and decided to just screw around on the web for a while. He knew that at some point someone was going to come into his room and bother him for gog-knows-what so until then he was going to try and relax a little.

After about two hours of being uninterrupted, Eridan's prediction had come true. Sure enough, Karkat came barging into his room. Gog knows why he was there considering that Karkat didn't even like Eridan all that much. Eridan didn't really mind when Karkat just burst into his room but he did mind when the Cancer threw a pair of his pants at his face and one of his shirts that had his zodiac symbol on it. Eridan was about to protest when Karkat beat him to it.

"Get dressed. Mari's coming over to visit everyone." That's all the Cancer had said before he left the Aquarius on his bed in confusion. Eridan had never dressed so quickly in his life. In no time at all Eridan had gotten dressed, brushed his teeth and combed his hair so fast he swore that speed was not normal. He was trying to decide if he should wear his cape like any normal day but the sound of a door opening and closing made him walk (sorta jog) out of his room without it. When he got to the living room Mari was already being bombarded with attention and questions.

"Yo motherfucker! Nice of you to make it today." Gamzee and Mari fist bumped.

"Nice to be here man." Mari smiled and turned to face the others. "Hi, name's Mari, nice ta meet you guys." She held up her hand in a sort of waving motion. Kanaya made her way to the front to stand next to Mari.

"Hello, my name is Kanaya Mayram. Nice to meet you Mari and welcome to our home." Kanaya smiled and held out her hand to Mari who instantly shook it.

"Nice to meet you Kanaya but like I said to Gamzee, Eridan, Sollux and Karkat, there really isn't a need to be formal with me." After Kanaya had finished explaining that it was just in her nature to be formal with any guest, that was when the rest of the introductions began. Once all the trolls (well all except Equies which Nepeta had not so specifically explained to Mari that he didn't like coming out of his room) had been acquainted with the human teen things just seemed to go back to their usual chaotic state. Only exception is now Eridan was sitting on the couch with Mari, Karkat and Sollux watching some movie that Eridan had never seen before. Mari had sat in between Eridan and Karkat while Sollux sat on the other side of Karkat and he didn't seem too happy about it. When Karkat had gotten up to get some popcorn Sollux had instantly taken his spot next to Mari who didn't really seem to care. Karkat on the other hand did care. A lot. When he came back to see Sollux had taken his place, Eridan thought he was going to flip his shit, but to his surprise the Cancer had opted to stand in front of the Gemini and demand his seat back.

"You moved, air go, you lost your seat KK." Sollux gave a smirk to the infuriated troll in front of him. That comment sparked another feud between the two once again. Mari sat there staring at the two and suddenly a strange expression crossed her face. Eridan couldn't figure out what it was at all. Then it was gone and she had stood up to pry the two fighting trolls apart. In those few minuets Karkat and Sollux had somehow managed to turn an argument into an all out brawl. More than likely they had veered off track from the original argument and some harsh insults were shared like usual. Other than that little scuffle the rest of the day went by pretty smoothly and Mari seemed to be having a good time with everyone.

When it was finally time for Mari to leave she said good bye to everyone, thanked Kanaya for being so polite and then headed off for home. When she had finally gotten there she went right up to her room and changed into pajamas. Today she had just found out something pretty interesting about two of her new troll friends.

"Karkat and Sollux have a fucking crush on me." This was going to be interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

_***Proving a Theory***_

It had been only two days since Mari's little 'discovery' about Sollux and Karkat's feelings, but since it was only a simple theory she had to test it. Good thing she had gotten straight A's in her Lab Class in school. _(Side note: A Lab Class in this story is basically a class where you make different experiments and have to hypothesize and test out your own experiments) _Mari had it all planned out: She was going to invite Sollux and Karkat to hang out with her and of course she had to invite Eridan and Gamzee, those two where her friends too. No need to leave them out. After she gets the okay from them she'll ask if they all wanted to see a movie and if yes then she had her testing grounds but if they said no then she would invite them back to her place and then she would see what would happen from there. Now to put her plan into action.

"Hello, Kanaya speaking, who may this be?" Good ol' formal Kanaya.

"Hey Kan! It's Mari, can I talk to Gamzee?"

"Sorry Mari, Gamzee isn't here at the moment. He went off somewhere a few hours ago. Is there any one else you would like to talk to?" Damn. Well there goes Gamzee. Oh well, so long as the other three were available her plan would still work.

"Yeah, is Karkat there?" There was a pause and a faint 'Um' on Kanaya's end of the line before she answered.

"Yes, he's right in the living room. I'll put him on for you."

"Thanks Kan, you're the best." Gamzee had been right, you really could always count on Kanaya at times like these.

"Hello?" It was Karkat's voice now. Time to implement her plan.

"Hey Karkat! I'm bored and I wanted to know if you Sollux and Eridan wanted to come hang with me today! I heard there was this fucking sick movie out in theaters and wanted someone to go with me. You guys are free right?" There was silence for a few seconds before Karkat spoke again.

"H-hold on a second!" He stuttered. From what Mari knew Karkat never stuttered. Progress made. She heard shuffling on the other end of the line and then came a response. "Where do you want us to meet you?" Score.

"Meet me at the shop and I'll lead us to the theater. I hope you guys don't mind horror movies! See you at the shop!" And she hung up. Now to go and pick out her wardrobe for the day. This was going to be a very interesting day.

At the music shop, Karkat, Sollux and Eridan were waiting for their friend. She hadn't said a specific time they should meet up so it wasn't surprising that she was taking a long time and they had heard from Rose that human females tend to take a long time when getting ready for going out in public. Plus, it wasn't like they had been waiting long, only about 10 minuets. Not five minuets later did they hear Mari's voice from across the street. Say she looked hot would be the understatement of the fucking year.

"Hey guys! Sorry I made you wait!" Mari's outfit had been chosen very carefully and just by looking at Karkat and Sollux's faces she knew it was working. She had picked a tight wrap around shirt that literally only covered her boobs and the rest was exposed. She wasn't wearing a jacket so her tattoos were showing. On her right upper arm she had a huge intricate spider web and on her left arm was a snake made of big black dots for the body that wrapped around her arm and the snakes head was on the top of her left hand. She had on tight black and white checkered skinny jeans and this time she wore black boots with chains hanging from them. Her usual earrings in her ears only the barbell was a plain white one. She stood in front of the boys smiling as if nothing was wrong at all. "So, are we all up for that movie?" For a few seconds it seemed the three trolls weren't going to answer until Sollux snapped out of it first.

"What movie did you say we were going to see again?" Mari's smile widened.

"It's this awesome horror movie called 'Mama'. I've wanted to see it for weeks now but I couldn't find anyone willing or free to go with me. I was hoping Gamzee would come too but hey, he wasn't there so he gets to miss out on a fucking awesome movie." After that they let Mari lead them to the theater. They paid for their tickets, got their snacks and sat down for the movie, and boy did Mari get a conclusion for her theory that day.

Right off the bat Sollux and Karkat started to argue over who got to sit next to Mari since she had taken a seat next to Eridan. Finally getting tired of their bickering she had asked Eridan if he minded sitting next to one of the guys instead and when she got an okay from him she took the seat in between the Gemini and Cancer. She did feel bad though, Eridan was so nice to her. She vowed to make it up to him later, but right now the movie was about to start. Throughout the flick she would steal glances at the two boys to see how they were reacting. Each one had made a move to put their arm around her at the same time, thinking that she didn't notice, but when they had noticed what the other was doing they started to glare at each other behind her back. Oh, but Mari noticed, yes she did. When the movie hit its critical plot point Mari had noticed that she had run out of popcorn and soda. Guess who volunteered to get her more? Both the Cancer and Gemini and gotten up, Sollux taking her drink and Karkat taking the popcorn bucket (no that was not meant as a sexual innuendo) leaving her and Eridan to watch the movie alone. Mari stole a glace to Eridan and saw that he looked pretty scared. In all fairness the movie was pretty fucking scary, but Mari loved scary, she guessed Eridan didn't.

She was about to tell Eridan that there really wasn't anything to be scared of when her two test subjects had returned. She now had a full bucket of popcorn again and a full cup of soda. To thank them she pulled them into a three way hug. That got a reaction from them. She noticed that both boys were blushing, Sollux a cute yellow and Karkat an adorable red. Then Mari looked back over to Eridan and whispered to him to try and get his attention. He turned to look at her.

"Want some?" She held out the popcorn to him and smiled. That seemed to put him at ease and he took some popcorn and thanked her, turning his attention back to the movie. Finally the movie had ended and the four walked out of the theater and into the streets. "That was fucking awesome! Gamzee totally fucking missed out on that! I mean damn! Did you notice how fucking close that one scene was? It was amazing!" Mari went on and one about the movie until she noticed that they were at the troll's house. "Well, thanks for today guys! It was so much fun! Oh! Hey Eridan, hold on. I wanna talk to you real quick." The Aquarius stopped and the other two exchanged looks but went in anyway. Eridan was left with Mari outside.

"What did you want to talk about Mari?" Eridan looked at his flush crush with a quizzical look.

"I just wanted to say sorry about today. Karkat and Sollux would've never shut up if I didn't sit in between them." She saw Eridan smile and he looked, adorable.

"No problem Mari. So long as you had fun, I'm okay with it." Mari returned his smile with one of her own.

"If you're okay with it but I'm still making it up to you. I'll catch you later 'kay?" Eridan nodded and went inside. Mari turned to walk home, giggling to herself the whole way home. Once inside she threw her hands up in the air and struck a victorious pose, smiling like a mad woman.

"THEORY CONFEIRMED!"


	5. Chapter 5

_***Irritation***_

Mari was in 'Sick Beatz' doing her usual routine. She still felt guilty about the movie night and Eridan having to sit next to Karkat. For the past week she'd been thinking of ways to make it up to him all the while still hanging out with the three trolls. Gamzee had become a little preoccupied with his bro Tavros to hang out with them but Mari was fine with it. Gamzee _was _friends with Tavros longer than her so it was only natural that he would want to hang out with him and not her and the others for a change.

"I wonder what I should do. I mean, it really didn't seem fair that Eridan had to sit alone for my stupid test. Maybe I could invite him over to my place and we could hang out together without Frick and Frack trying to get my attention. Would he think that's weird? No, he knows I'm cool like that, I mean, I've invited Gamzee over to my place and he didn't think it was weird. Then again, Gamzee is fucking high on Sopor Slim all the time, whatever that is. Man what the fuck am I gonna do?" She spoke to herself softly until she felt a hand on her shoulder and instinctively whirled around, about to punch whoever it was in their face. Mari stopped mid swing when she saw it was the very troll she had been thinking about. "Jesus Christ Eridan. Don't sneak up on a girl like that." She smiled at him when he started to get nervous.

"O-oh! Um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I was just bored at home a wanted to know if I could stick around here for a while. Is that okay?" Eridan seemed to have a very, _very_ light purple blush on his cheeks. Mari couldn't help the giggle that came bubbling up. Eridan's blush deepened a little.

"Of course you can stay here man. You know I love the company, but I hope you don't mind helping out a little bit. I actually have some things to do today." Mari motioned to the box under her arm.

"No problem. It's better than having Kanaya yell at you for a reason you can't decipher." Both laughed. Maybe today won't be so boring for either of them, and it wasn't. Even though Eridan was doing _actual work _it didn't feel like it with Mari around. They were laughing and smiling and cracking jokes the whole time. Neither noticing that they had finished all the work Mari was to do that day and were now just goofing around. They were also too distracted to notice a certain pair of trolls walking through the door giving each other death glares. They did notice when they heard a voice yell:

"DID YOU JUST SERIOUSLY FUCKING BITE ME?!" The two turned around to see Karkat holding his hand and Sollux with a bit of red blood on his lips. Eridan sighed and so did Mari, but for a completely different reason than Eridan. Mari got up and before the two could get into a fight, she grabbed both by their ears and dragged them over to where she and Eridan were sitting. A string of 'ow's', 'fuck's', and 'let go's' were heard from the two boys. She made them sit in front of her while she stood above them and glared down at them.

"Are you two fucking kidding me!? You two are always fighting and it's seriously fucking irritating!"

"But-"

"No buts! You listen to me right now understand!?" The two gulped audibly and nodded. "Good, now, Sollux," the Gemini flinched back. "why on fucking Earth did you bite Karkat?" Sollux thought about his answer carefully before answering.

"For no reason." He looked away from Mari with an embarrassed blush on his face. Mari huffed.

"I thought so, and Karkat," the Cancer did the same as Sollux and flinched. "there is no fucking reason for you to be yelling THAT FUCKING LOUD when you're indoors." Karkat looked down at his lap, no daring to look Mari in the eyes at the moment. Eridan had been sitting back and watching the two get scolded like they were children. It was amusing to see the two in such a vulnerable state. The sight was pretty rare if not usually fucking impossible. Mari went on to say how childish they were acting and that they needed to stop all this unnecessary fighting before she got really angry with them. She was always saying that but to Eridan she did seem really angry. His thoughts were cut off when Mari had finally ended her scolding.

"Now, are we going to behave today?" She raised her brow, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, Mari." They said in unison. Sollux and Karkat felt like they were two sweeps old again, being scolded that badly. They heard Mari sigh above them and chanced a glance up at her. They wished they hadn't. Mari's face was a mix of anger, disappointment, and irritation. They looked away immediately.

Mari felt bad after the two had looked up. They looked a little hurt and she didn't blame them. She had said some pretty harsh things to them. She sighed and sat down next to Eridan.

"Look, you two just need to learn when to stop. It would irritate anyone if two of their friends constantly bickered and fought when they were standing right there. Just tone it down with the fighting okay?" They looked at her again and nodded after a few seconds though. She smiled at them. "That's better. Now, how about I go get us all some drinks from the back and we have a good time?" Everyone smiled at that, no way were they turning down a good time with Mari. They sat there and started up another topic of conversation, and once again not even ten minuets later, Sollux and Karkat were arguing again. Mari sighed, this time just sitting back with Eridan and watching the show unfold in front of her, a single thought crossing her mind.

_These two will never change. I guess I can live with that though._

A smile splayed across her face.


	6. Chapter 6

_***A New Enemy?***_

Gamzee sat in the living room drinking a bottle of Faygo, just thinking that he hadn't seen his motherfucking miraculous human friend in a while. It had been, what, almost two weeks? Well, Gamzee had to fix that. He made his way past the chaos and two the home phone and dialed up Mari's number. It took him a couple of tries but he finally got it right after the second try. The phone rang a few times and finally someone picked up. That someone being Mari since she lived alone.

"Hello?"

"Hey motherfucker! Wanna come over? Haven't seen you in motherfucking forever dude." He heard a laugh on Mari's end of the line.

"Sure Gamzee, I don't have work today so when do you want me to come over?" Gamzee thought about it for a second.

"How 'bout right motherfucking now?" Another laugh from Mari's end of the line.

"No problem, bro. Be there in like, five fucking minuets."

"Motherfucking miracles." Gamzee hung up just as Kanaya walked into the kitchen, which is where the phone was located.

"Who were you just talking to Gamzee?" Gamzee grabbed himself another bottle of Faygo before answering.

"Mari. She's gonna come over and hang for a bit. I hope that's motherfucking okay Kan." Kanaya grinned and clapped her hands together.

"That's perfect! I needed someone to help me with the measuring for this one dress I was making and Mari is the perfect height! I hope she doesn't mind?" Kanaya walked out of the room and into her sewing room. Gamzee didn't really care if Kanaya stole Mari away for a bit. Everyone did like Mari so what was the harm in letting Kanaya have her for a bit? Gamzee took another swing of his Faygo and walked back into the living room almost bumping into his best friend in the process.

"Damn it Gamzee! Watch where your going!" Karkat glared up at the taller troll standing before him. Gamzee just smiled down at him like usual.

"Sorry best friend. Didn't mean to motherfucking run into you like that. I just finished inviting Mari over for-"

"Hold the fuck up Gamzee. Mari's coming over again?"

"Yeah motherfucker, she'll be here in ten minuets. Why?" Karkat just stared at his so called 'best friend' with shock. He had to fucking invite Mari over NOW!? Damn him sometimes!

"Nevermind!" Karkat rushed out of the room and up the stairs. He rushed into Sollux's room not caring that the Gemini was now yelling at him. "Shut the fuck up Sollux and listen. Gamzee just fucking invited Mari over!" The Gemini stopped yelling and his jaw now hung in mid air.

"What!? Now? Today?! You've got to be kidding me!"

"No fuck face I'm not! Get your ass in gear and be prepared." It had turned out that Gamzee had forgotten that today John, Dave, Jade and Rose were coming over to hang out as well. Rose and Jade weren't a problem and John was an idiot, but Dave was the real problem. That bastard could do some real damage if he said one wrong thing in front of Mari. The two warned Eridan as well and the three trolls were trying to think fast before the five humans got to their home. They heard a door bell. Fuck.

"Mari! Good thing you're here! Oh! Rose, you're here too! This is perfect! Come in, I need you two to help me with this dress I was making." They sighed in relief. Saved by Kanaya and Rose. Now all they had to do was make sure Strider kept that big mouth of his shut when he got here. The door bell rang again, this time Karkat answered the door and was greeted by the Stridouch himself with John right behind him smiling like an idiot.

"Sup Vantas. I came here to fuck up your day." A smirk was visible on Dave's face. God did Karkat hate him.

"Fuck you Strider. Hi John." He let the two into the house then noticed that Jade was rushing to the door. She stopped, out of breath. She looked like she was about to start explaining and Karkat decided to cut her off. "Just get in here. Kanaya and Rose are in Kanaya's sewing room." Jade smiled and went right to where Karkat had directed her. He shut the door and went into the living room where Dave and John had taken their seats. Sollux had started a conversation with Dave and John was talking with Gamzee and Tavros. Karkat took the open seat next to Eridan. If they were to keep Strider's mouth shut they were going to have to think fast. He knew Kanaya, she would want everyone to see her new dress and Mari would more than likely be wearing it. Knowing Kanaya it would probably be revealing too.

Speaking of Kanaya, back in her sewing room she was putting some finishing touches on her new dress that Mari was more than happy to help her with. Mari was the perfect height for hemming the dress because with her boots on she was exactly as tall as Kanaya. Her boots only made her three inches taller but that was a good thing in this situation. The troll was finishing the measurements and finally let her step down from the small platform.

"Go look in the mirror." Kanaya was glowing with excitement, literally. Mari did what she was told and was not disappointed with what she saw. The dress looked beautiful. It was a tight cocktail kind of dress with maroon ribbon at the center and on the bottom. There were little purple stripes on the ends of the short sleeves and she saw flecks of yellow and blue scattered at the bottom. The main color of the dress was black. Mari started to laugh a little. "What? Is there something wrong with it?" She looked at Kanaya who looked at her with a quizzical expression. Rose and Jade sat off to the side, looking at her the same way.

"No, nothings wrong with it. It's just that the colors you picked match my hair exactly. The dress looks beautiful Kanaya." The troll smiled.

"I'm glad. That dress was inspired by you." Mari looked back at Kanaya.

"Really?" Kanaya nodded.

"Once I saw your hair I immediately had ideas running through my head and I got to work on it as soon as you left. That's why I was so excited that Gamzee had invited you over today." Mari looked back in the mirror and turned around, and that's when she saw the large white spider web on the back of the dress. "I thought you might like that as well." If Mari's smile could get any bigger her face would've split in two.

"Oh my God! Kanaya! This is amazing! I can not believe how awesome that looks!" Mari was ecstatic.

"I'm glad you like it. It was made for you." Mari turned to face the Virgo.

"Are you serious?" Kanaya nodded. Mari started bouncing on her heels.

"Thank you Kanaya! I love it! It's absolutely amazing!" Then Rose had an idea.

"We should show the others!" Jade nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! I bet everyone else would love to see it. Can she Kanaya?" Kanaya thought it over for a second before agreeing that it was a good idea. And because she wanted to flaunt her work. Mari made her way out the door and down the hall to the living room where most of the others were seated. Kanaya got everyone's attention and motioned for Mari to come out into the open.

Jaws dropped, comments were given, and well, Mari's fuse had been lit. Karkat and Sollux ran, Eridan got out of the way and the others were not happy with Strider's comments. The only thought on Karkat's mind was:

_That stupid fuckass just got himself a death penalty!_


	7. Chapter 7

_***Strider's Mistake***_

_**(This will be funny)**_

Remember last chapter? Yeah, well, here's what went down.

Mari walked out in her new dress Kanaya had made for her just like Rose had suggested. The reactions she got were pretty cool too. Aradia had started clapping.

"It looks lovely Kanaya! Some of your best work yet!" The Aeries smiled.

Mari saw Karkat and Sollux's jaws drop open. _Just like before. _She allowed herself a small smile. Gamzee stood up and threw his arms in the air.

"It's a motherfuckin miracle! Mari's wearin' a dress!" That got a few laughs out of everyone.

"It, uh, really looks pretty on you Mari." Tavros always seemed to have such nice things to say but hesitated when trying to say them.

"Thanks Tav." Mari was ready to go back and change when a guy she didn't know had spoke up.

"Damn, Kanaya, if you made that dress any shorter I swear I could probably see her ass!" Mari's eye twitched and the guy started laughing. Karkat and Sollux stared wide eyed at him and Eridan stood up and started to back away slowly. Gamzee and Tavros followed him. Kanaya looked like she was about to blow a gasket but Mari beat her to it.

"What that fuck did you just say?" Mari spat out through gritted teeth and the blonde boy stopped laughing to speak again.

"I said that dress is about three inches from being a whore's outfit!" That was it. Mari snapped. The only warning Strider had before she attacked was a low growl and then he was on the ground. Mari sat on his back and grabbed a fist full of hair, yanking his head up.

"I fucking dare you to say that again you perverted asshole! You fucking think that's funny?! Why don't I show you-" Mari was grabbed from behind and hands clamped over mouth as she continued to yell, kick and scream as Eridan and Karkat grabbed and dragged her off of the now pissed Strider.

"The fuck was th-" Dave got cut off by Sollux pulling him back.

"No, just fucking no Dave. Do NOT fuck with her man." Sollux was still holding Dave's arm as Karkat and Eridan tried to calm Mari down.

"Let it go Mari. The asshole isn't worth it!" She was still yelling profanities at Strider and Strider was yelling back. Soon Kanaya, Rose and Jade had joined Mari's side and it seemed Strider was about to lose but the jackass wasn't giving in, even against four women. Finally someone had thrown a punch, and that someone was Mari, and it hit Strider right in the jaw. All you heard after that was Vriska yell:

"Fuck yeah! You go girl! Right in that sludge spewing mouth of his!" Mari smiled and looked like she was about to throw another punch when Eridan grabbed her arm again and led her back to Kanaya's sewing room as she continued to curse out Strider. Speaking of the insulting blonde he was now on the ground holding his now sore jaw and being chastised by the three other girls. Eridan shut the door behind him and Mari and finally let go of her arm. Mari had stopped yelling and was now sitting on the platform taking off her boots (more like throwing them in some unknown direction in a blind rage). Eridan had moved to stand in front of her.

"Mari?" She looked up at him.

"What?" Mari had all but growled her reply. Eridan flinched back in fear, now afraid to say any thing more. Mari saw and let out a sigh, her expression softening. "I'm sorry Eridan, I'm just-"

"Angry? Yeah I can see that." The Aquarius sat down next to his friend. "You don't need feel guilty ya know. Strider had that one coming. I think Kanaya and the others are still chewing him out." Mari let a small laugh escape past her lips.

"I'm pretty sure I can still hear them, Kanaya looked pissed." Mari looked at her aquatic friend with a smile. "Thanks Eridan." The boy blushed.

"F-for what?" The girl laughed.

"For helping me calm down. You really are a good person." Mari then got up. "Do you mind just facing the door while I get changed back into my regular clothes?"

"Oh! Yeah, no problem. I promise I won't look."

Back outside the sewing room, Strider was still getting an earful about his comments. Kanaya had already hit him in the head twice, Rose had called him 'The biggest jackass she could possibly ever know' and Jade, well, let's just say she made a few threats that do not need repeating. After all was said and done, Strider was now sitting on the couch with an ice pack on his jaw. Karkat sat across from him and was just smiling.

"The fuck are you so happy about Vantas?" Strider glared at Karkat as said troll's smile just widened.

"Oh, nothing, just enjoying the fact that you got your ass handed to you by four different girls, one of which slugged you and pinned you to the ground while in a _dress_." Dave flipped him off and Karkat just kept his smile plastered on his face until Mari and Eridan came out of the sewing room. "Hey Mari, how's your hand?" The girl in question looked from Karkat to Strider and back to Karkat with a grin on her face.

"Doesn't hurt nearly as much as his face must hurt." Vriska took this opportunity to give Mari a high five to which Mari gladly accepted.

"You slugged him good for that one!" It seemed everyone but Dave was having a blast at the moment.

"Thanks Vriska, I try my best to give assholes like him the hardest punches I can form." Mari gave a little bow. Dave grunted. Mari laughed. "Serves him right for insulting my dress that Kanaya worked hard on to make." Dave didn't even look at her, only pressed his ice pack back to his bruised jaw line.

After the whole 'Mari slugged Dave Strider right in his fucking jaw' conundrum died everyone had decided to start an actual conversation that didn't involve killing anymore of Dave's pride as a man. Eventually everyone (including Dave) started to have a good time. Gamzee, Tavros and Mari were talking about so sick new songs Mari had downloaded for the two trolls. Sollux, Karkat, Eridan, Dave and John started a good conversation on how the three trolls had met Mari. Kanaya, Rose and Jade had gone back to Kanaya's sewing room to speak in peace about Kanaya's next piece of work, and Vriska had gone back to tell the other trolls what they had just missed. All in all, everyone finally had gotten a good time out of the rocky night. By the time it was time for everyone to go home Dave and Mari had made up and called a truce and Mari four new friends.

Once everyone had gone home Karkat, Sollux and Eridan had all slumped down on the couch, now exhausted from the eventful night. They looked at each other and had come to a decision about Mari.

"That girl is fucking tough."


	8. Chapter 8

_***Mari's Secrets***_

_***Note to readers: The songs in this chapter are not mine I just felt like using them. And the song Mari sings just seems to fit the main pairing of this fic. That's how I see it at least. If you seem to find any other songs that fit this pairing please feel free to tell me. That it all***_

Karkat Vantas was currently on his way to his human friend Mari's house. Why you may be asking? Let us go back to how this journey of his had come about.

_*Just about 10 minutes earlier*_

"_NEPETA! GET BACK HERE WITH MY YARN!" Kanaya was now chasing the cat like troll into the living room. Nepeta had a ball of bright green yarn in her mouth and was running at top speed, trying her best to escape the fashion troll's wrath. Karkat sat on the couch trying to focus on his most recent rom-com but was finding it quite hard with Nepeta jumping around and Kanaya screaming his lungs out. As if to make matters harder for the poor Cancer Aradia and Vriska had started yelling at each other over who knows what again. Gamzee wasn't home so talking to his moirial was out of the question. The damn clown and Tavros had gone out a little while back and Karkat didn't know when they'd be home. Hell, even Sollux and Eridan had gone out, TOGEATHER. As far as Karkat knew, those two barely liked each other, but he guessed they had only gone out to escape what was happening right now. Just when all hope of relaxing today seemed impossible his Trollian had received a new friend request. Being the ever curious troll he secretly was Karkat accepted the request and just as he did a new message popped up on his screen._

_**darkenedHearts [DH] has began trolling with carcinoGeneticist [CG]**_

_**DH: Hey Karkat! It's Mari :)**_

_**CG: HEY MARI. HOW DID YOU FIND ME ON TROLLIAN?**_

_**DH: Gamzee. Did you even need to ask that one?**_

_**CG:…. GOOD POINT. SO WHAT DID YOU WANT?**_

_**DH: I figured you needed some saving. I just saw SoLLux and Eridan waLk by my house and they Looked Like they had just seen a ghost. My guess is a) Kan went on a rampage or b) They Left to escape such a possibiLity. Am I right?**_

_**CG: THEY LEFT BEFORE KANAYA WENT ON A RAMPAGE. AS A MATTER OF FACT, SHE'S ON ONE RIGHT NOW.**_

_**DH: Nepeta?**_

_**CG: NEPETA -_-**_

_**DH: Ahhh, I see. So, what do you say to coming over my pLace to hang out for a whiLe? :)**_

_**CG: NEPETA JUST BROKE A VASE….. I'LL BE OVER IN 10 MINUETS.**_

_**DH: LoL, see ya then. ^^**_

_**darkenedHearts [DH] has ceased trolling with carcinoGeneticist [CG]**_

_*Present Time*_

And that is how Karkat Vantas ended up in front of Mari's front door on this semi-chilly October day. Karkat knocked on the black and red wooden door and waited for his friend to open up. What he didn't expect was for Mari to open the door wearing nothing more than a _very_ small tank top and _very _short shorts. If Karkat hadn't spent so much time with the music loving girl he was sure he would've had a nosebleed at the sight before him.

"Karkat! You made it man! Come on in and get out of that chilly air." Mari moved out of the way and motioned for the Cancer to come in. Once inside Karkat was surprised to see how clean Mari's place was. There didn't seem to be a spec of dirt anywhere in her house. It looked even cleaner than Tavros' room and that was saying something. Mari led the way to the very end of the hallway and opened a door that had a sign on it reading 'STAY THE FUCK OUT'. Karkat couldn't help but laugh at it as he followed Mari into the forbidden room. The room turned out to be a sort of studio. Karkat to say the least was thoroughly impressed at how organized the room was.

"I didn't know you liked music this much Mari. Never would've guessed you had a mini studio in your own house." Karkat walked around the room simply looking at everything within it. Mari let out a laugh as she went to the back corner of the room.

"Yeah, I live alone so I had a studio built in my house so I can work on my music." Karkat stood up straight and turned to look at Mari.

_She lives alone in this big house? I know John said at one point that humans have parents to take care of them and I assumed Mari had them too but, she really lives alone? _As he thought about it Karkat took another look around the room and a quick glance out the open door. Her house was big enough to have at least four people living in it so it was a shock to learn that fact about his friend. Mari spoke again and snapped Karkat out of his thoughts.

"So how about we- Karkat? What's up?" Mari turned and saw the look Karkat was giving her. His eyes had a tinge of sadness in them mixed with shock. Karkat shook his head as to clear it.

"Nothing Mari. What were you saying?" Karkat tried to smile to hide what he was feeling but it didn't work. Mari frowned and he knew he'd been caught.

"Why were you looking at me like that?" Karkat let out a sigh.

"Doesn't it get lonely, living in such a big house by yourself?" The Cancer never did like to sugar coat things so he just up and asked what was on his mind. Mari's eyes widened for a second before she looked to the ground.

"Yeah, sometimes." Mari's face seemed to darken and her usual cheery atmosphere had disappeared. Karkat felt bad, he came over to have fun and laugh with Mari, not make her feel bad.

"Hey," Karkat had walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. Without her boots on she was the same height as him. His lifted her face so she was looking at him again and Karkat saw the beginning of tears in her eyes. On instinct he hugged her tightly, not caring if it was welcomed or not, all he wanted at the moment was for Mari to not cry. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Fuck, please don't cry." Mari was a bit shocked at the action but then smiled and hugged back. She knew Karkat cared about her and she cared about him, just not in the way that he did for her, and she'll have to clarify that to him. It didn't seem fair to string him along after this little act of kindness to her. She let go and wiped her eyes then looked at Karkat with a smile.

"Thanks Karkat. And I need to tell you something." Mari told Karkat her whole story. She told him about her plan and how she had used him and Sollux that day when they went to the movies. She apologized over and over about it but it seemed as though Karkat didn't really care. "I really am sorry Karkat, I like you but just not like that. You're more like a brother to me to be honest." She looked up at the Cancer to see if he showed any signs of anger. When she saw nothing more than a smile on his face she spoke up again. "So, are we cool?" For a few seconds there was silence, then, Karkat started to laugh, and soon, so did Mari. After the laughter died down Mari got her answer.

"Yeah, Mari. We're cool. So, how about we have some fun huh?" Karkat's smile seemed to glow just as bright as Mari's.

"Defiantly!" Karkat and Mari had decided to watch a movie first and since Karkat was her guest, Mari let the Cancer troll pick the movie. Since Mari didn't own any romance movies Karkat had picked an old horror movie she had. Since the movie was made back in 1967 it was in black and white and the deaths were pretty funny to the two. After the movie they went back to Mari's studio and started messing around and making some soundtracks. Somehow Mari had gotten Karkat to start singing and in the process the Cancer found that he wasn't half bad. Mari sure thought he sounded good because after he finished singing 'Daylight' by Maroon 5 Mari was whistling and cheering for an encore.

"Was I really that good?" Karkat blushed and rubbed the back of his head, feeling pretty damn proud of himself at the moment.

"Hell fucking yes! You were amazing Karkat! You should totally sing with me next time there's and Open Mic Night at the shop!" Karkat looked at her and let a grin spread across his face.

"Oh~ You sing too?" Mari froze.

"Shit."

"If you want me to sing again you have to sing a song first."

"Damn it!" Mari pouted. Karkat smiled. All in all, Karkat won this little battle. Mari picked up her guitar and strummed it a few times. "I hate you sometimes ya know that?"

"Yeah yeah, now get to singing." With a huff of mock annoyance Mari strummed her guitar one more time.

"This is a song I recently wrote my self. I call it 'Hot'." Mari then began to play and sing. The words flowed out of her mouth like they were the most natural thing in the world to her. Karkat stared and listened in awe at Mari's beautiful voice.

"I can make you feel all better~ Just take it in~ And I can show you all the places, you've never been~" Mari continued with playing the guitar cords and singing in tune. "Kiss me gently. Always I know! Hold me, lightly~ Always I know~" Karkat couldn't believe that Mari had written such and amazing song all on her own. It was amazing, like nothing Karkat had ever heard before. It seemed to have more meaning than just being a song. When Mari finished Karkat immediately started to do the same Mari had done for him. Mari smiled and gave a little bow then put her guitar back where it belonged.

"So, who's the song about?" Mari froze again and whirled around to see a grinning Karkat staring at her. She audibly gulped.

"W-what do you mean by that Karkat?" She laughed nervously.

"You know what I mean. That song was about someone. What I wanna know is who was it about?" Mari's face flushed a deep red and that just proved Karkat's theory. "Come on Mari. Spill it." Mari shook her head.

"No no no no no no no! It isn't about anyone! I just wrote it out of boredom!" She was waving her hands in front of her to emphasize the 'fact' that the song wasn't about anyone.

"Like hell I'll fucking believe that. Tell me or else." Mari glared at him.

"Or else what?" Karkat gave her the most wicked grin she'd ever seen cross the Cancer's lips. She knew she was in trouble if she didn't tell him, but she was too stubborn to give it up. Karkat lunged for her. Mari dodged. They played a game of cat and mouse for a good half hour before Mari slipped up in her living room and Karkat was able to pin her down and start tickling her. But she didn't break. She held her own until finally Karkat stopped and she was able to breath again.

"I'm giving you a break but I will get it out of you by the end of today." Karkat sat on top of Mari's abdomen looking down at the panting girl with a smug look plastered on his face.

"I….. refuse to….. tell you." Mari was able to pant out. Just then she remembered something. Something very important that just so happened to be laying on the table just three feet from them on her living room coffee table. She mistakenly looked over to it and Karkat followed her gaze. They looked back at each other for a second before both made moves to grab said item. Karkat jumped. Mari slipped again. Karkat got to the painting first. Karkat's jaw dropped open.

"You, this is, no. Fucking. Way." Karkat busted out another grin and stared right at the blushing Mari. After Mari argued with Karkat it was a misunderstanding (and failing to convince him) for another half hour Karkat finally let it go and they both (finally) noticed how late it had gotten. Mari all but shoved Karkat out of her hose and shut the door behind him. But not before giving him a little hug goodbye and saying a thank you for hanging out with her. When Karkat got home he was able to sneak past Kanaya and go right up to his room and upon entering said room he found that someone had messaged him on Trollian.

**darkenedHearts [DH] has began trolling with carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**DH: I swear to God if you teLL **_**ANYONE**_** I wiLL **_**MURDER**_** you in your sLeep and I won't think twice about it.**

**CG: I WON'T. BUT I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE FLUSHED FOR ERIDAN.**

**DH: Fuck. You.**

**darkenedHearts [DH] has ceased trolling with carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

Karkat laughed a little before settling into his bed. He now had a new client to help out. Mari will never hear to end of this.


	9. Chapter 9

_***Movie Night With Everyone***_

"I don't understand why we're doing this Kanaya." Sollux was in the kitchen with Kanaya, Tavros and Aradia setting out snacks of different sorts for the big movie night Kanaya had _insisted_ they have.

"Like I said before Sollux, I feel as though we are not spending enough time with out human friends and I feel as though a movie night would help with such a problem." Sollux just stared at the Virgo with mild annoyance when he damn well knew that this was just an excuse to have Mari and Rose over without feeling as though she was leaving one of the girls out of what ever she was doing with the other. Sollux knew Mari really didn't give a damn but Kanaya wouldn't really know that. When the four were finished (or when Kanaya finally felt as though they were) Sollux went out to the living room and snuck up to his room for a little peace before he was forced to watch movies he didn't even like. He shut his door, locked it, and sat down on his bed and opened his husktop. He intended to just code until Kanaya forced him out of his room but he saw that he had received a message over Trollian from Karkat. At least it gave him something to do other than coding.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling twinArmaggedons [TA]**

**CG: HEY FUCKASS. YOU HIDING FROM KANAYA TOO?**

**TA: yeah, 2he'2 gone nut2 wiith thii2 whole moviie niight thiing. Ii can hear her biitchiing from up here.**

**CG: YEAH. I FEEL BAD FOR THE POOR SAP SHE'S YELLING AT. I'M JUST HOPING DAVE GETS HIS ASS KICKED AGAIN.**

**TA: ummm, ya know what, Ii don't really wanna know. Ii wonder when they'll be here.**

**CG: HOPFULLY NOT TOO SOON. I DON'T WANNA GO BACK DOWN THERE YET. KANAYA SOUNDS LIKE SHE COULD RIP SOMEONES HEAD OFF RIGHT NOW.**

**TA: good point. Diid you ju2t hear 2omethiing 2ma2h?**

**CG: I HEARD NOTHING AND I WILL NOT ADMIT THAT I DID.**

**TA: 2caredy cat.**

**CG: DO YOU WANT KANAYA QUESTIONING US?**

**TA:… Ii heard nothiing**

**CG: THOUGHT SO FUCKASS. SHIT, DID YOU HEAR THE DOORBELL?**

**TA: yeah and now Ii hear Kan yelliing at u2.**

**CG: FUCK. OH WELL, THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO IMPLEMENT MY LITTLE PLAN.**

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling twinArmaggedons [TA]**

"Plan? What the fuck-" Sollux's sentence was cut off by Kanaya yelling at him to come down. Not wanting to get on the Virgo's bad side, Sollux quickly shut his husktop and made his way to the living room once more.

"Sup Sollux." Mari and Dave greeted him in unison. The two looked at each other for a second, surprised and slightly annoyed they had said the same thing, before Mari moved to go say hi to her favorite clown. Dave merely huffed and sat down on the couch next to Terezi who in turn commented on the fact the he used way to much Axe. A few people laughed, Mari included, and Dave's face dusted a light shade of red. After everone had gotten settled in Kanaya addressed everyone as to what was going to happen throughout the night.

"Hello everyone. First I would like to thank our human friends for joining us in this little event I had planned." Said humans nodded and thanked the Virgo. "Now, second I would just like to let everyone know that tonight is for having fun and relaxing. That being said, I do not wish to see or hear any fighting amongst any of you. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded. "Good. After each movie is finished there will be a half hour break for everyone to do as they please and then we will start the next movie. That being said the first movie will start in half an hour. So, if everyone is clear as to the rules, please, do enjoy yourselves." Everyone had gone back to their conversations before Kanaya's little explanation and Sollux sighed. Dave looked over at the Gemini slightly confused.

"What's up man?" Sollux looked at the blonde boy knowing he wouldn't ask unless he really wanted to know.

"I seriously don't want to be here right now. I'm not a movie kind of person." Dave just shrugged but before he could get a word out Mari, who had over heard Sollux, had chimed in.

"Awww come on Sollux! Tonight will be awesome! And besides I bet Kan put in a lot of effort to make tonight happen. She even told me that you and the others helped out." Mari was smiling at him and damn was that enough to make his forget about how much he didn't want to be there.

"W-well, yeah I did help a bit. A-and I guess, tonight won't be _so _bad." Sollux rubbed the back of his head.

"That's the spirit man!" Mari's smile seemed to get wider.

"Hey! We were still talking ya know!" Vriska giggled a bit as Mari made her way back to her spot in between the Scorpio and Eridan. Speaking of the sea dwelling troll, he was currently fighting off a blush that threatened to burst onto his face. Mari seemed so excited and happy to be here and she looked amazing on top of that. Not that Eridan ever thought she _didn't _look amazing (considering he's completely fucking flushed for the girl). Eridan was so lost in thought he didn't notice that their topic of discussion had changed. He snapped out of his thoughts when Mari started to ask him a question.

"Am I right Eridan?" Mari was smiling and Vriska was giggling. Before Eridan could make a fool of himself Kanaya announced that the first movie was starting. Eridan inwardly sighed. Saved by Kanaya. Everyone's attention turned to the 42 inch flat screen TV as Kanaya pressed the play button on the remote. The first movie they were watching was a horror movie called 'Sinister'. Mari, Vriska and Gamzee seemed to be the most excited. Needless to say, some of the others weren't so thrilled. Tavros and Nepeta being the two main trolls. During most of the movie Nepeta was either shoving her head into a pillow or Equeis' lap. Tavros just keep his face buried in Gamzee's shoulder (obviously watching his horns) to which the clown just put a protective arm over the Taurus with the same goofy smile plastered on his face. Karkat looked just as bored as Sollux while Aradia and Feferi passed quiet comments to each other about the movie. By the end of the film Mari and Vriska were cheering the killer on and everyone was a bit freaked out. Needless to say, when the half hour break came along no one went anywhere in the house alone, except for Mari and Vriska who seemed unaffected from the movie.

"I swear I knew that was gonna happen." Both girls were still talking about the movie.

"No way. Even I didn't see that one coming." Vriska and Mari had started an argument over who was right about a certain scene in the movie. It ended just as fast as it began when the two smelled popcorn that Gamzee had made. Now focused on their snacks, the odd pair sat down and started up a completely new topic of discussion, this time re-including Eridan in the loop.

Before anyone had known they had gone through almost seven movies and it was 5:30 in the morning. By this time though Vriska had fallen asleep out of boredom and Mari wasn't even paying attention to the film (considering the past two movies were action/romance and didn't have any gore in them it was only a matter of time before the two lost interest). Now Karkat felt that this was the perfect time to act on his little plan to 'help' Mari with her flush crush. Through out the night Karkat was able to make his to the seat next to Eridan who sat on the couch with Mari and Vriska right on the floor in front of him. Karkat knew that Eridan wasn't paying any attention to the movie and he knew just how to get the two alone together. He whispered to the two as low as he could.

"Hey, look, you two look bored as fuck and the rest of the movies are basically like this one." They both jumped a bit at Karkat's words. "Look, if you two wanna ditch and go somewhere else I can cover for you two." Eridan had a slightly puzzled look on his face as he whispered back to Karkat.

"Why do you care?" Karkat knew what the Aquarius meant and just shot him a glare.

"If you wanna stay here and be bored out of your minds that's fine by me." They shared a look before shaking their heads. Karkat grinned slightly. "Then get moving. Kanaya won't notice so long as you two come back for the half hour breaks." The two quickly and quietly thanked the Cancer and were able to sneak off to Eridan's room without being noticed. Once there they both let out sighs of relief.

"Remind me to get Karkat something nice for helping us get out of there."

"Noted. I never thought an action movie could be that boring." Eridan had made a sort of disgusted face out of habit. Mari laughed.

"Yeah, you're telling me man. So, is this your room?" Sudden realization hit Eridan like a truck going full speed. Mari was with Eridan. In his room. _Alone. _This was going to be a rough rest of the night.

"Uh, y-yeah. Sorry about the mess." Eridan couldn't bring himself to look at Mari for fear that she might notice a slight blush splayed across his face. Thankfully she was more preoccupied with the little things scattered around Eridan's room, giving the troll enough time to collect himself and put up his usual calm attitude when he was around her.

"So what's with all the wands?" Mari was holding one and turning it over in her hands. Pointing it at random spots in the room acting as though she was casting a spell. She heard Eridan laugh behind her and then an idea hit her. "Well, well, well. It seems I'm being laughed at." A grin spread across her face as she turned and pointed the wand at Eridan. "How dare you laugh at me, I take great offense to such an action. Do know that you shall pay for your wrong doings." It didn't take a rocket scientist to see what was happening and Eridan was more than willing to play along.

"Oh, I am so very sorry my dear. But if you wish to try and make me pay you will have to defeat me first." Eridan grinned. Mari's grin widened. In no time at all the two were so enthralled in their little game that neither had noticed that time had flown by. They had completely forgotten to go back out to the living room for the last two half hour breaks but it seemed no one other than Karkat noticed. Eridan and Mari seemed to be in their own little world of adventure. Thankfully no one had walked in on them or else they both would've had a lot of explaining to do. But even so, they wouldn't have really cared. They were having too much fun at the moment. Mari currently had Eridan pinned to the floor asking him so random questions that pertained to their current game all the while smiling and trying (failing) to hold back her giggles while she pointed her wand at Eridan's neck in a threatening (not really) manner. They were finally taken back to reality when Mari's phone alarm went off, blaring the song that Karkat had sung not too long ago. Mari quickly got off of Eridan and grabbed her phone, quickly shutting off the loud music.

The two made their way back down to the living room after Eridan had reluctantly agreed not to say anything to Karkat about the song Mari had secretly recorded. Once downstairs they saw that almost everyone had fallen asleep. The only ones that were still awake were Karkat, Dave and Sollux. After saying their goodbye's (Mari's goodbye to Dave being a punch in the ribs) Mari made her way back home. The four boys were left alone to clean up the remains of their long night.

"So how was-" Karkat was cut off.

"Not a word Kar. Not. A. Single. Word." Eridan simply continued his cleaning and Karkat grinned. Eridan may have figured his little plan out but Mari seemed just a bit oblivious. This was defiantly going to be fun for the Cancer.


	10. Chapter 10

_***Mari VS Feferi***_

She had no idea how this even escalated so bad so fast. First she was just talking with Gamzee and Tavros about a sick new song she found and then the next thing Mari knew she was on the ground fighting Feferi with everything she had. No one was trying to stop the two either. It was like they were frozen where they stood and couldn't rack up the courage to even get near the two brawling girls on the living room floor. The furniture in said room also seemed to be moved out of their way. The two continued their onslaught on each other, neither girl willing to let up or lose. Mari, in the back of her mind, still wondered:

How the fuck did this happen?

_*Earlier that very same day*_

_Mari was walking along the streets as she usually did when she had nothing better to do. The shop was closed for the rest of the week since Luke had to go to some high school reunion that was all the way in California and she wasn't in the mood to fuck around in her studio today. So, Mari had decided to take a stroll, go out on the town, fucking socialize with the world for once, but of course, she had her headphones on her head. And they weren't the small little ear buds that most people wouldn't be able to see unless they were really looking, no, they were the big ones that went on your head like a head band that say "Hey fuckers, don't talk to me I'm fucking listening to my music". Mari loved the colder months, it always gave her a sense of calm and unlike most people, she could wear a tank top and shorts in the dead of winter and only be a little chilly. Ever since Mari was little she always had a higher body temperature than most people and that kept her warm during the winter months but left her scolding in the summer months, which is why she almost always stayed inside during summer unless she was going to get a tan at the beach. And that rarely ever happened. As Mari continued her little walk to no where in particular she felt her phone vibrate from within her bra. It was Gamzee. He was calling her. Mari took off her headphones and turned the volume down and answered the call from her favorite clown-troll._

"_Sup Gamzee. How are you today my clown-like brother?" Mari smiled as she heard Gamzee laugh on the other end of the line._

"_Motherfuckin' miraculous Mar. Say, are you busy right motherfuckin' now?" Mari inwardly sighed with relief. Gamzee just saved her a day of absolute fucking boredom._

"_No man I'm not busy. Why?"_

"_Then you should motherfucking get over here. There seriously ain't nothing to do around here and I'm pretty motherfuckin' sure havin you here would be motherfucking miracles." Mari smiled. No need to ask her twice. She always loved going over the troll's house. Being there was like being in a live sit com that didn't suck ass. You never knew what was gonna happen over there._

"_I'll be right over man. I was seriously about to start bashing my head against something if I didn't find something to occupy me." Mari hung up after Gamzee gave her one last 'Motherfucking miracles' and then made her way over to the troll's house as fast as she could in her 6-inch platform skull heels and tight skinny jeans. Believe it or not, she could run pretty fast in heels, skinny jeans or not and it didn't matter how high the heels were. Once she was at the front door she did the polite thing and knocked first. She knew that the others probably wouldn't care if she just walked in but she wanted to be courteous. The door opened to revile Nepeta. The cat like troll stared at her for a second before smiling wide and giving her a big hug, nearly making her fall over._

"_Hey Mari! What brrrings you here?" Nepeta finally released Mari from her grip and looked up at her with a quizzical expression._

"_Hey Nepeta. Gamzee invited me over, can I come in?" The Leo moved out of her way and let her into the house._

"_Well, I'll be going now. I have some new ships to make. Bye bye!" With that, Nepeta bounced off down the hall and out of sight to her room. Mari shook her head slightly. She had heard of Nepeta's Shipping Wall but she never dared to ask the Leo about it for fear she might be on there. Aradia had warned her about it just a few days ago but Mari never thought much of it anyway. The goth girl made her way up the where Gamzee's room was. She had only seen inside Gamzee's room once and it was only because his door was open and she needed to use the bathroom which was further down the hall from said Capricorn's room. The door was closed this time and she knocked. When she didn't get an answer she just decided to open the door to see if he was in there and just didn't hear her. What she didn't expect to see was Gamzee on top of Tavros and Gamzee's tongue basically shoved down the Taurus' throat. The two broke apart and looked at her, Tavros with a look of pure horror on his face and Gamzee with a look of shock. Mari stood there in utter confusion, basically frozen in the doorway as the two trolls quickly regained their composure and sat next to each other on Gamzee's bed._

"_Uh, I can motherfucking explain." Gamzee struggled to find the right words and Tavros just sat in silence with a dark brown blush on his face. Mari finally snapped out of her trance like state and finally spoke up._

"_Dude, it's fucking cool. Man why didn't you tell me sooner? I don't judge that kind of shit bro. It probably would've made this 20 times less awkward if you had told me sooner." Mari smiled which seemed to relax Tavros because he let out a sigh of relief. Gamzee's usual goofy smile returned on his face too._

"_Motherfuckin' miracles. I thought you would've all up and motherfucking flipped your shit." Gamzee laughed and rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment. Mari laughed._

"_No way bro, I'm fucking cool with that shit. Besides, you and Tav look cute together. And I sorta got a small hint when he kept his face buried in her chest most of movie night. And considering all the time you two spend together I should've guessed sooner." The three shared a few laughs and the air around them was now calm, no longer awkward. The three had decided to sit in Gamzee's room for a while and Mari got to learn more about Gamzee and Tavros' matespritship. She also got a lesson on quadrants from the two boys since she had no fucking clue about them (odd pair to learn about quadrants huh? Lol). After a while though the trio had gotten hungry and made their way down to get food. After gathering a plethora of random snacks they just sat on the couch and Mari decided to tell the two about this new song she had found the other day. While their conversation continued Feferi and Sollux had taken seats at the kitchen table continuing a conversation of their own. It was only a few minutes before Eridan had come into the room as well. He said a quick hello to Mari and went into the kitchen._

_The Aquarius had wanted to talk to Sollux for only a few minutes about what Karkat was planning but he saw that the Gemini and Feferi were talking. He didn't really want to interrupt but he really needed to talk with Sollux._

"_Um, Fef, sorry for interrupting but I need to talk to Sol reel quick." Feferi looked at him and simply ignored him. She went back to her conversation with Sollux. Eridan tried once more and was yet again ignored by the Pisces. Mari had seen what had happened and excused her self from the two boys. She didn't really know why she did what she did, she was acting on instinct._

_After she had gotten up all she remembers after that was arguing. The arguing turned into yelling and soon the yelling turned into screaming. Mari remembered seeing all the other trolls pour into the living room to see what was going on. After that, she remembered a sing in her right cheek and then everything went red._

_*Present Time*_

Eleven trolls stood around the two brawling girls on the floor. Mari and Feferi had gotten into the most intense fight any of the trolls had ever seen since Mari had fought with Strider. The funny thing was that Mari was winning. Even in heels and skinny jeans the girl was winning. During the fight clothes had been torn, hair was pulled (mostly Mari's), and insults were thrown. Neither girl was willing to back down now and _damn_ if they were going to stop unless _someone _yanked the two apart. Judging from the fact that everyone in the room other than the two fighting were frozen and unmoving the fight wasn't stopping anytime soon. The girls broke apart only for a second, both panting and out of breath. Blood was running down Feferi's face, arms and she had a cut on her abdomen that was only noticeable because her shirt was torn up. Mari wasn't any better. She had a big gash on her fore head and blood was running down her face as well and she had gashes all over her. Some even looked as though they needed stitches. But just as fast as they broke apart they were right on each other again.

Mari instantly pinning Feferi to the floor and throwing punches anywhere she could. Feferi reciprocated by digging her nails into Mari's arms and kicking her in the ribs. Although nothing the Pisces did made Mari's onslaught let up. The girl was running on blind rage and pure animalistic instinct and it was showing in her eyes. Mari's usually happy and bubbly blue eyes were now clouded and hazed with rage and it didn't even look as though Mari was even there. It was as if some other entity was controlling the usually happy and sweet girl everyone knew.

Finally someone was able to snap out of it, that someone being Eridan. He went out into the fray and grabbed hold of Mari with a vice like grip and started yanking her off of Feferi. Once Eridan was out there Gamzee was too. The Capricorn and Aquarius grabbed both sides of Mari and started pulling her back away from the beaten down Pisces. Aradia and Kanaya had helped Feferi up while Eridan, Sollux, Karkat and Gamzee tried their best to restrain Mari. Kanaya and Aradia tried to hold back Feferi with the help of Terezi and surprisingly Vriska as well.

Mari stood there glaring at Feferi with daggers for eyes behind the boys who help her back. She made another move to try and break free but someone had grabbed her arm and yanked her back. Still running on animalistic instinct she whirled around, about to hit whoever it was But then she saw who she was going to hit. Karkat took one look into Mari's eyes and he flinched back, fear was clear in the Cancer's eyes. Mari stopped mid swing. Her mind finally cleared from its haze and she was finally able to _see _Karkat. The fear in his eyes made her cringe. She had done that. She made that look appear on Karkat's face. Her arm went down and she looked around. When her eyes landed on Feferi she couldn't believe what she had done. She didn't regret what she did but she just couldn't believe she had done it. Suddenly, Mari's legs felt like jelly and she fell to her knees. Pain suddenly shot through her like she was being electrocuted, but all she could say was one line, over and over again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Mari felt her body going numb. She could barely hear what anyone was saying but they all sounded worried.

Then everything went black.


	11. Chapter 11

_***The Aftermath and the Explanation***_

One thing was on every trolls mind:

What the fuck did they just witness?

Everyone had heard screaming coming from the living room and ran down to see what was going on but when they had gotten there all they saw was Feferi slap Mari across her face and yell at he to mind her own business and then Mari jumping Feferi. That was only the start of the fight. As it progressed it just got worse. Blood was spilled and clothes were torn and no one knew what to make of it. All they knew was someone started something and it escalated to attempted murder. Both Mari and Feferi were out cold at the moment, Feferi didn't look too bad but Mari, she was a completely different story. Her gashes and wounds looked horrible and her head wound was still bleeding. Eridan was pressing a cloth to her head to try and stop the bleeding as best as he could while Karkat and Sollux started to wrap up her arms in gauze since they had stopped bleeding.

"What on Alternia happened in here! Why did Feferi slap Mari and why did any of this happen!?" Kanaya was hysterical. Sollux was trying his best to explain what had gone on but even he didn't fully understand what had happened right in front of his eyes.

"Feferi was talking to me and ED came in saying he needed to talk to me but FF ignored him and Mari came over saying something about FF being rude. Then FF said something to Mari and they started arguing. KK keep presser on her head, ED go get more gauze. Then they started yelling and screaming and Mari called FF and inconsiderate bitch and that's when FF slapped her and that's when the fight started, and damn it Kanaya do we have to have this conversation now!? I think Mari needs stitches!" Kanaya finally snapped into her senses and started giving instructions to everyone.

"Right, okay. Aradia, Vriska, I want you two to take Feferi to her room and lay her down. Start bandaging her wounds carefully and make sure to clean them first so they do not get infected. Sollux, you and the boys get Mari to my room right now and keep pressure on her wounds until I get there. Understand?" They did as they were told and once Kanaya was there they had been pushed out of the room and were forced to wait downstairs while Kanaya and Nepeta stitched up Mari. The six boys were left alone in the living room while the girls were upstairs.

"I can't believe that just happened." Karkat had pulled his knees up to his face and had buried his head in his own lap. "Did you see the look in Mari's eyes? I have never seen anything like that before. I thought she was really gonna hit me." Gamzee put an arm around his morial to try and comfort him.

"I was sitting right fucking there. I should've done something to stop them." Sollux was now in total shock.

"This is my fault." Eridan whispered. The boys all turned to look at him. "It was my fault this happened. If I hadn't said anything, fuck if I hadn't even wanted to talk to Sol in the first place that wouldn't have even happened!" Sollux put a hand on Eridan's shoulder but the seadweller didn't look at him.

"ED, that isn't going to help anyone right now. If anything it's my fault for not stopping them sooner. I was sitting right there. I should've done something other than sit there like a fucking idiot." Eridan finally looked up at the Gemini. He knew Sollux was right. They can't change what happened. Eridan let out a sigh. The boys sat in silence for what seemed like ages before Kanaya came back down with the other girls.

Kanaya's hands had blood on them and her face looked seldom but she spoke calmly.

"Mari's wounds looked worse than they actually were. She did need a few stitches but nothing too serious and I am sure that none of her wounds will scar. She'll be fine, but for now she is resting in my room and is not to be disturbed. Feferi is fine as well. Other than a sprained wrist she will be okay." The boys let out a long sigh of relief. "When Mari wakes up, though, I want someone to get an explanation as to what happened here today." Kanaya went and washed her hands and simply disappeared into her sewing room so she could think in peace. Equies, Gamzee and Tavros decided to go back to their rooms, leaving Sollux, Karkat and Eridan alone in the living room.

"So, who's gonna talk to her?" Sollux looked at the two who sat on either side of him. Eridan looked to the ground. Sollux knew he wasn't going to be able to look Mari in the eyes and there was no way Sollux could talk to her. He'd wind up just pissing her off again. Before he could ask Karkat to even consider talking to her, the Cancer stood up.

"I'll do it." He paused for a second to look at the two staring at him then turned away. "I'm going to my room." That was that. Now they only needed Mari to wake up. Only question was, would she even be willing to talk?

The trolls waited hours for Mari to stir. It almost seamed like she would be out until the next day but just before 8:00 pm hit Mari woke up with a jolt. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and Karkat rushed right into the room, instantly grabbing Mari's wrist to try and stop her from flailing about. Out of instinct Mari slapped Karkat across his face. She hadn't realized who was gabbing her until her breathing became normal again and she got a good look at the red hand print that was now on Karkat's right cheek. He eyes widened in shock.

"Karkat? Oh my God, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know it was you. I'm so sorry. On God, is Feferi okay? How long was I out? Wh-where did all these bandages come from? Wha-" Karkat cut her off by shushing her. She quieted but that didn't stop her from silently crying.

"You're fine. Kanaya had to stitch you up a bit and Fef is fine too. She's got a sprained wrist and some cuts and bruises. That's all, but Mari, what the hell happened out there? What was that? It didn't even look like you. You, you almost-" Karkat trailed off. He could bring himself to say it. Mari knew, he didn't want to make it sound worse by saying it. She wasn't even looking at him anymore. Her tears were staining the blanket below her. Suddenly she got out of bed and rushed out the door. Karkat ran after her and before she could get out the door her grabber her shoulder and spun her around to face him. "Where the hell do you think you're going?! You are not leaving this house without giving me some answers Mari!" Karkat knew he shouldn't yell but he couldn't help it. She was trying to leave without even answering a single question. Mari decided to yell back.

"You want answers!? Fine! I'm a street rat okay! I fucking grew up all alone on the streets! By myself! No one to take care of me!" Mari's yelling brought everyone back out of their rooms for the second time that day. "I was alone from the fucking start! Now I don't know how it is back on your planet but when a kid grows up by herself with no one to defend her she becomes like a rabid animal! Doing everything in her power to make others scared of her so she won't get her ass beaten to a pulp on a daily basis! She had to lie, cheat and steal just to get by in life! Old habits die hard Karkat! I had nothing growing up and living on the streets ain't easy! I was chased around like I was a stray dog and it wasn't like I had parents handed to me like you did! When a kid on this planet doesn't have parents that's that! No one wants a street rat for a kid! You're left alone! Nothing can save you from the streets and I mean nothing! The ONLY reason I'm here right now is because of my best friend. She saved me, I was finally able to get off the streets and get a job. I may be off the streets but my old habits of fighting to defend myself like a wild animal will _never _go away." Mari finally stopped and was panting heavily. She looked out at the faces that stared back at her. Her tears were still falling heavily and her whole body ached. She looked back to Karkat who was frozen in shock like the others. "There, you got your explanation. Now if you don't mind, I'm leaving."

And with that Mari left.


	12. Chapter 12

_***What Just Happened?***_

It was awkward. The air was tension filled and no one knew how to break it. Eridan Ampora, in a last ditch effort to get out of the unusually quiet house, had gone out for a walk. It had been a week since the fight between Mari and Feferi, and a week since everyone learned about Mari's past. It was shocking, Mari was such a nice girl when they met and yet, she had such a horrible past behind her. No one really blamed Mari for what she did but since she wasn't answering her phone and she had called out of work and never seemed to be home when they tried to visit her house no one could get a hold of her to tell her. Eridan sighed, he wished that fight never happened. It left everyone in a state of unease and no one wanted to talk about it. Not even when Feferi tried to bring it up. It just seemed like a taboo topic.

Today was a particularly cold day since it was the middle of November but Eridan liked the cold at the moment. It was calming to him and helped him think a little clearer. He had only been outside for an hour but his nerves were finally calm. He'd been on edge the whole week, thinking about how Mari was and if her wounds were healing okay. Eridan really cared about Mari, she was so nice to him and she always seemed to make him smile. As his thoughts continued Eridan rounded a corner and then WHAM! He ran right into someone causing both to fall back and land on the concrete. He fell hard and as suspected he heard the other person let out an 'Ow' of their own.

"Shit, I'm sorry I didn-" Eridan stopped mid sentence when he saw just who he bumped into. Low and behold, it was Mari. The multi color haired girl sat on the ground rubbing the base of her back. Her headphones had fallen off her head and onto her neck, her music still blaring. "Mari?" At the mention of her name, Mari's head shot up and her blue eyes widened in shock.

"E-Eridan! Wh-what are you doing out here?" Mari's face had lit up once she realized what had happened and she was now avoiding eye contact, looking at anything but Eridan. Said troll had gotten up and extended his hand out to help Mari up. She reluctantly took it, wincing as he pulled her up. That alone told Eridan that Mari was still in pain from her fight with Feferi.

"I was just out for a walk. Why haven't you been answering your phone and where have you been this past week? Everyone's been worried about you." That had gotten Mari's attention.

"They are? Really?" Mari seemed surprised to hear that. Her eyes lit up a bit too.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be? You weren't answering any time we tried to contact you and we didn't know if your wounds were okay and judging from the way you winced when I helped you up you're defiantly still in pain. Why didn't you call any of us back or even email us?" Mari looked down again and this time she turned off her music. She let out a sigh.

"I guess, I guess I was just afraid ya know? Um, can we … walk?" Eridan nodded and both crossed the street. Mari continued. "I was just scared that you guys would be mad at me. I'm so used to people always bein' mad at me and just chasin' me away that that's what I was expecting from you guys. Just now, when you said that everyone was worried, it made me really happy. The only person that's ever cared about me is my only friend Ruby. She's the one who helped me get off the streets." Mari paused and smiled which made Eridan smile as well. They walked together in silence for a little while just enjoying the other's company.

"You still didn't answer my question as to where you were this past week." Eridan smiled as Mari laughed.

"Well, if you _must_ know I just hid in my house and whenever you guys came around I just made sure my lights were off and my door was locked. Like I said I thought you guys were mad at me." Eridan gave her a look that said 'Really? Are you serious?' and Mari laughed again. "What? I really thought you guys were mad at me!" Mari managed to get out between laughs. With her mind cleared of any worried she had before Mari and Eridan actually were able to spend some alone time together without any interruptions from others. It was relaxing to both to just be able to walk around, talking, and not have to worry about anything for a bit. Eridan was talking about what it was like back home when Mari gave a slight shiver and pulled the collar of her jacket closer to her neck.

"Are you cold?" Mari looked at the Aquarius and smiled.

"Only a little. I forgot my scarf back home. I forgot how cold it was gonna be today." Mari stopped and zipped up her open jacket as high as it would go but her neck was still cold. Then she suddenly felt warmth around her neck. She looked and saw that Eridan had taken off the scarf he was wearing and wrapped it around her neck. She was shocked, especially when he removed her hair from underneath the warm article of clothing, pulling the scarf just a bit tighter. He smiled at her.

"Better?" Mari blushed but thankfully it wasn't noticed since her face had been red from the cold. She nodded and the two went back to their walk. Somehow they had gotten on the topic of 'magic' and science. Eridan was giving her a long explanation on how magic doesn't exist and how most everything can be explained by science thus the reason his wands are called 'science wands'. And Mari listened to everything. She never once broke her focus from Eridan's speech. It seemed… interesting to her even though she never really like science all that much. But, coming from Eridan, it sounded fun and interesting. They stopped at another street light and waited for it to change to green. When it did they continued on to no where in particular. Finally when they had hit the park area Eridan was finished his speech and Mari couldn't help but giggle a little bit. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just, usually I don't like listening to science-y talk."

"Oh." Eridan looked down at the ground and Mari was quick to continue.

"But the way you put it makes it seem really cool! I swear! If I really wanted you to stop talking I would've said so in the beginning." Eridan perked up at hearing this. She really like all that banter? In all honesty Eridan was just babbling because he started feeling nervous again. "But you know, I think _some _magic exists." Eridan looked at her.

"Oh really? What kind of magic do you think exists?" Mari's smile was soft as she looked at the sky above her.

"Well, I believe that imagination is the greatest magic of all. No matter what, if you have even the smallest of imagination, magic is real. There's also the magic of never knowing what happens next in your life. It's always a surprise! You never know what will happen or who you'll meet in the world during your life. There's the magic of questions that you feel you'll never find answers too, like, why is our sky blue? Why do we see the sky as the color blue? Why not green or purple? Why blue? And why do people change who they are? I believe, that some things in this world can only be described as magic, and I'm okay with that. But, if I were to be Gamzee right now I would say that the world is 'motherfuckin' miraculous my brotha!'" Mari started laughing as she did her impression of Gamzee and Eridan laughed too. Then a question poped into said troll's mind.

"Hey, Mari." She looked up at him, a small tear in her eye from laughing so hard.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of everyone?" Mari stopped for a second. She hadn't really thought about it that hard. She started walking again as she explained.

"Well, I guess I would say that Gamzee is one of my best friends. I don't really know much about Equies or Aradia but they seem okay to me. Vriska is a total badass and Terezi too. Tavros is kinda shy but I guess I would say he's a good friend to have. Feferi, well, honestly I don't like the way she treated you at all and I'm pretty sure we might not get along too well after that fight. Karkat is like a brother to me and so is Sollux and Kanaya is like a sister. Nepeta too, she's like a little sister that always seems to get herself into trouble. And you," Mari looked at Eridan and tilted her head a bit. "well, I guess you would be, um, well, uhh, damn. It's complicated when it comes to you. I mean, it's really hard to explain and well, I guess, I mean you're not bad. You're really fun to hang around, you're really nice and understanding too, I like that about you, but to go any deeper with explaining would be, well, just way to damn hard to explain."

Mari crossed her arms in annoyance and puffed out one of her cheeks. She looked so cute when she got annoyed about little things. Eridan couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He simply watched as Mari mulled over her little rant, mumbling to herself as she did so. Eridan laughed a little.

"You don't have to get so worked up about it. It's fine." Mari looked back to Eridan and once again thanked the fact that her face was still red from the cold because the smile Eridan was giving her made her blush again. They continued and without even realizing it they had made their way back to the troll's house. "Well, it looks like this is where we separate. It's pretty late anyways." Eridan smiled.

"Yeah, but I had a lot of fun today Eridan. And," Mari stopped for a second, the troll in front of her giving her a puzzled look.

"What is it Mari?" She was looking down. Finally she made a move. She quickly kissed Eridan on his cheek and looked him dead in his eyes as a deep purple flush spread across his face.

"I really had fun today Eridan. Thank you." With that, Mari ran off as fast as she could. Before Eridan even recovered from the initial shock Mari was gone and out of sight. A grin that looked about as goofy as Gamzee's spread wide across Eridan's face and he walked inside and went straight for his room. Back at Mari's, the girl had just gotten home and slammed the door shut behind her, sliding down to the ground with almost the same kind of grin on her face. As both lay in bed that night a thought crossed both their minds.

_What just fucking happened today?_


	13. Chapter 13

_***Karkat's Plan***_

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling darkenedHearts [DH]**

**CG: HEY MARI.**

**DH: Karkat! What a surprise! It's been a whiLe since we Last spoke on TroLLian :) So what's up?**

**CG: WELL ONE: I'M GLAD YOU ANSWERED CONSIDERING YOU TOTALLY BITCHED ME OUT LAST WEEK, THOUGH YOU WOULD'VE DONE THE SAME NOW. AND TWO: I WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU'D LIKE TO HANG OUT.**

**DH: Okay, one: I was never reaLLy mad at you and I'm sorry for screaming at you :( But as to your second question I wouLd Love to hang out with you! When and where wouLd this LittLe rendezvous of ours happen?**

**CG: WELL I WAS HOPING WE COULD MEET TODAY AT THAT PLACE YOU CALL A MOVIE THEATER, IF YOU'RE IN THE MOOD TO SEE A GOOD MOVIE WITH THE JERKOFF WHO PUSHED HIS BOUNDARIES.**

**DH: Awww, Karkat, you shouLdn't bLame yourseLf for me yeLLing at you. I Lost my temper when I shouLdn't have in the first pLace. I wouLd Love to see a movie with you today :) I'm sorry for yeLLing. What time did you wanna meet up?**

**CG: OKAY. HOW ABOUT AROUND 3:00? THAT GOOD?**

**DH: Perfect. I'LL get ready now ^^ See ya Later Karkitty!**

**CG:….. YOU'VE BEEN TALKING TO NEPETA HAVN'T YOU?**

**DH: Maaaaaaaaaaaybe ;)**

**CG: SOMETIMES I WONDER WHY I'M STUCK ON THIS GOD FORSAKEN ROCK.**

**DH: LoL, Later Karkat.**

**CG: BYE.**

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling darkenedHearts [DH]**

Phase one of Karkat's little plot has gone off successfully and without a hitch. It was true that Karkat felt bad for pushing his limits with Mari the week before but he wasn't the one who was going to be at the movies with Mari today. Now it was time to get the second participant to play his part willingly.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]**

**CG: HEY FISH BREATH.**

**CA: kar? wwhat do you wwant?**

**CG: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN ASSHOLE?**

**CA: wwell, you're wwillingly trollin wwith me an you didn't start out the convversation wwith an insult **

**CA: i can only assume you wwant me to do somethin for you**

**CG: WELL AS A MATTER OF FACT I DO NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME.**

**CA: if it's anythin embarrassin i'm not interested kar**

**CG: DAMNIT LET ME TELL YOU FIRST AND THEN YOU CAN ACCEPT OR DECLINE! JEEZ, ANYWAY, I WANTED YOU TO GO TO THE MOVIES WITH MARI TODAY. **

**CG: I MADE THE PLANS WITH HER YEASTERDAY BUT I'M REALLY FUCKING BUSY AS THE MOMENT AND I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE HER ALONE. **

**CG: SHE WAS SERIOUSLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THIS MOVIE CALLED INSIDIOUS.**

**CG: I'M PRETTY SURE IT WAS ANOTHER HORROR MOVIE.**

**CA: an you wwant me to go wwith her**

**CG: YEAH DIPSHIT, THAT'S WHAT I WENT THROUGH THE FUCKING TROUBLE TO ASK YOU.**

**CA: one question kar**

**CA: did you evven run this little change of plans by her first**

**CG: WOW, I REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE YOU OF ALL PEOPLE ARE PASSING UP A CHANGE TO BE ALONE WITH MARI.**

**CG: I MEAN WOW! SOMEONE CALL GAMZEE BECAUSE I THINK A FUCKING ODD MIRACAL JUST HAPPENED RIGHT HERE.**

**CG: YOU ARE SERIOUSLY GOING TO QUESTION ME ABOUT THIS? FINE, IF YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO GO I GUESS GAMZEE OR SOLLUX COULD JUST GO WITH HER.**

**CA: hold on! i nevver said I wwouldn't go**

**CA: i just wwanted to knoww if Mari kneww I wwas goin instead of you**

**CG: ERIDAN JUST GET YOUR FISHY ASS READY. SHE'S MEETING YOU AT THE THEATER AT 3:00.**

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]**

Eridan was left to stare at his husktop in total confusion. On one hand, it was seriously suspicious that Karkat would just randomly ask HIM of all trolls to go and take his spot for the movie with Mari. Then on another hand he wasn't passing up the opportunity to be alone with Mari. Especially since yesterdays little incident. He hadn't the chance to ask her about the kiss and he saw today as a perfect chance to do so. As of right now his clock read 1:30. He had plenty of time to get ready.

Back at Mari's house said girl was just stepping out of the shower and was now blow drying her long multi-colored hair. She was so excited for today. She hadn't really expected Karkat to just up and ask her to hang out and see a movie like that. Usually the grumpy troll would suddenly pop up at her front door and ask if she'd like to walk around a bit and usually either Sollux, Eridan or Gamzee would somehow find them and join in. Hell, one time they ran into Dave and John, and both her and Karkat hate Dave. Anyway, that really isn't the point here. Mari now had to make a very critical decision: what was she going to wear? This was, sadly, a normal problem for her. Damn girls and always needing so many god damn articles of clothing. Even goth-punk girls need a wardrobe. And said wardrobe always caused her to be indecisive about what to wear. After a long 20 minuet debate with herself she finally came to a decision. Mari would be wear her half-black half checkered skinny jeans with her strapless (also sleeveless) rose and thorn printed top. It was tight but that's only because it had to be or else it would fall off way too easily. She wore flats this time but they were still boots that zipped up to her knees. Finally to top off her ensemble she went to grab one of her many necklaces off a coat rack she kept them on since she like to keep them in sight and not cluttered in one of her jewelry boxes, but she grabbed something else.

"What the?" Turning to inspect the strange object she had grabbed she saw that it was a scarf. More specifically, Eridan's scarf. The very scarf that she had run off with yesterday by accident. Now an odd though crept into her mind. It was actually more of an impulse. She wanted to wear it again. It was just so soft and warm, and Eridan had been nice enough to let her wear it yesterday. But what would Karkat think? Surely the Cancer would notice that it was Eridan's. How would Mari explain that? Before she could get a proper thought into her head the alarm she had set on her phone to remind her when she only had 10 minuets left to get ready went off. "Shit!" Mari rushed to do her make-up and put her earrings back in. She was in such a rush that she hadn't even noticed that really did put on Eridan's scarf.

Speaking of Eridan, the sea-dwelling troll was making his way to the theater as well, although he wasn't in a rush. He hadn't really done anything different to prepare for today. He wore his same clothes except for his cape and scarf (and we all know where that is right now *wink hint*). As Eridan approached the theater he hadn't taken notice of a certain girl bounding his way until the two literally almost ran into each other. Again. Eridan almost lost his balance trying to keep Mari from losing hers. Mari on the other hand was surprised to see Eridan here and looked around for a second. Karkat was no where to be found.

"Jeez Mari. Sometimes I think you're just trying to run into people." Eridan tried to make a joke but it seemed Mari wasn't even listening. "Mari?" Again she didn't answer so Eridan raised his voice a little. "Mari?" That snapped her out of it.

"Huh? Oh! Right, hey Eridan!" Mari smiled. That's better, Eridan always loved to see her in a good mood. "Hey, one question." Eridan looked down quizzically at Mari, a little surprised she wasn't wearing heels today. "Did Karkat send you here?" Now he was really confused.

"Didn't he tell you? He was busy and couldn't make it. He asked me to go in his place." The two stood in silence for a second. Finally it all clicked in place and the two blushed furiously.

"Damn it Vantas!" They said in unison. Causing the two to blush even deeper. They said nothing to each other for several minuets, an awkward silence forming between them. One thing was for sure though, they were going to kill Karkat when they got the chance. Finally, Mari was able to break the silence.

"Uh, so, since we're both here… why don't we just go in and see a movie?" Mari was avoiding eye contact, not like Eridan was any different.

"S-sure. That sounds nice. Um, Karkat mentioned that you wanted to see one called Insidious?" At the mention of the movie Mari perked up instantly.

"Really!? How did he know I wanted to see that movie?! It just came out two weeks ago and I've been dying to see it! Can we Eridan! Pleeeeeease!" Eridan couldn't help but laugh at how cute she looked right now. Mari's eyes seemed to widen like a cat's would while playing with a toy that had catnip in it. After saying yes and witnessing Mari jump at least three feet in the air the two bought their tickets and got their snacks. What made Mari even more excited was that the movie was playing in theater 13, apparently her favorite theater.

The movie had been amazing. Eridan usually didn't like horror movies, hell, he really didn't like movies in general due to the fact that they were all fake with no truth behind them at all. But this movie had been really enjoyable. Even though Eridan was pretty much scared throughout the whole thing, Mari was there this time to calm him down when he got a little too scared. She wasn't scared though, Mari was bouncing in her seat the whole time, just waiting for the next scare. Every scream seemed to make her smile and giggle lightly and yet every time she would always tear her attention away from the movie to keep Eridan from freaking out. After the film they walk out of the theater, Mari laughing and Eridan telling her that it was NOT him who yelped (it was totally Eridan). Sine the movie had only been a little over an hour long the two decided to go on a walk.

"I can't believe you screamed. You sounded like a girl!" Mari just would not let it go.

"I told you that was NOT me! And it wasn't a scream it was a-"

"A what? How would you know what it was unless you did it?" Eridan blushed and looked away with a huff. Damn her sometimes. She laughed again. "Aww, come on Eridan. I'm sorry, okay? But it was just funny that you got so scared over a movie." The Aquarius looked back to Mari and smiled. Not like he could really stay mad at her anyway, that's when he finally noticed what she was wearing.

"Is that my scarf?" Shit. S. H. I. T. Fucking hell. Well, this was now the most embarrassing moment of her life. It barely even occurred to Mari what she was going to say if Karkat had asked her about the scarf but instead of Karkat it was the owner of said scarf. How the fuck was she supposed to explain this to Eridan?

"Um, well, yeah. I kinda ran out of my house in a rush and, well, I just, sorta, put it on." Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK! This was so embarrassing right now. Mari's mind was racing but thankfully she was able to keep her face looking as calm as possible.

"I forgot you ran off with it yesterday. I didn't even think about it when I was getting ready." Well that sounded fucking stupid. Eridan mentally slapped himself for the shitty response.

"Oh, well, anyway, here. Sorry for running off with it. I was just-" Mari cut herself off before she could say any thing else as Eridan took the piece of cloth out of her hand. Neither one said anything more than a 'Thank you' from Eridan and a whispered 'You're welcome' from Mari. There was only silence until they arrived back at Mari's house. She finally broke the tense silence.

"Y-ya know, you didn't have to walk me all the way home, Eridan."

"I know, but, it, I just, um, it just felt like the right thing to do." There was more awkward silence and then Eridan made the move this time. Giving Mari a quick kiss to her cheek, the Aquarius then managed to stutter out another thank you and then turned and all but bolted in the direction of his home. This time it was Mari left standing in shock, but her expression soon turned into a drunken like grin as she fumbled for her house keys, giggling all the while.

Back at the house of trolls, Eridan ran into the house and up to his room, quickly locking his door after shutting it. A long, drawn out sigh escaped his lips as he replayed the whole day with Mari over in his head. He opened his husktop to virtually curse Karkat off for lying to him but someone else had already emailed him.

**darkenedHearts [DH] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]**

**DH: Today was reaLLy fun Eridan. If it isn't too much to ask, I was wondering of you'd Like to hang out again tomorrow?**

**CA: yes!**

**CA: i, uh…**

**CA: that sounds really great mari**

**CA: i'd lovve to hang out tomorrow**

**CA: wwhen wwould you like to meet up**

**DH: Just come over to my house at 3:00. I'LL see ya then Eridan :)**

**DH: And teLL Karkat that I'm gonna kick his ass next time I see him**

**CA: wwill do mari**

**CA: see you tomorrow**

**DH: See you tomorrow Eridan.**

**darkenedHearts [DH] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]**

**caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**CA: fuck you kar**

**CG: YOUR'RE WELCOME ASSHOLE**

**caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]**


	14. Chapter 14

_***Is This a Date?***_

Never before in his life has Eridan Ampora been THIS nervous. Just yesterday Mari had asked him if she wanted to hang out again today at 3:00 and boy was Eridan a nervous wreak. He'd been pacing his room for the past 20 minuets trying to piece together just how everything had come to this. Nope. Nothing was coming to mind. Eridan was so busy racking his brain for answers that he didn't even notice his bedroom door being opened.

Karkat Vantas stood in the doorway to the Aquarius' room simply staring at the pacing troll. Then, with a stoic face, Karkat walked up grabbed Eridan by the arm, drug him over to his bed, and forced the confused troll to sit down. Eridan was about to ask Karkat what he was doing in _his_ room but the Cancer beat him to it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Eridan just continued to stare at Karkat with total confusion. Karkat sighed. "I know damn well that you're supposed to meet Mari today so I'll ask again, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Now Eridan was confused and suspicious.

"How did you know I was meeting Mari today?" Eridan glared up at the Cancer.

"I had Sollux hack computer and check your old chats, now that's not important right now. What is important is-"

"You hacked my computer!?" Eridan was fuming now. How dare Karkat hack his computer? And then pretend it was no big deal! The Aquarius was NOT having it.

"No, I had SOLLUX hack your computer. I just sat next to him and told him what I was looking for. Now before you start bitching me out I am _trying _to help you, so shut the fuck up and listen." As much as Eridan wanted to curse out the Cancer he did not have time. There was only about three hours until he was to meet with Mari and if Karkat was willing to help him still, then Eridan wasn't going to question it.

While Eridan was being lectured by Karkat, Mari was also getting a lecture of her own, by her best friend Ruby. Mari was scampering around her room trying to figure out what to wear on her… date? With Eridan. Ruby was trying to get her best friend's attention but was failing miserably. Finally her temper got the better of her.

"MARI, FUCKING LISTEN!" Mari froze and almost tripped over a pair of her boots. She turned her attention to her blonde-brunet friend. Ruby was tapping her foot in annoyance and glaring at her. "Now that I have your attention, what are you so worried about? From what you've told me about this guy he really cares about you and he likes you back. What are you running around like a chicken with its head cut off?" Mari was at a loss for words. Only babbled noises were coming out of her usually sharp mouth. Ruby sighed, of course this would happen to Mari. Every time she liked someone THIS much Mari would always get self-conscious and jittery. Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose. She had about three hours to get Mari calmed down and ready for her little date with this Eridan guy. Honestly Ruby just wanted to hit Mari upside her head for not letting Ruby actually meet any of her new 'friends' but that wasn't really the main issue at hand here.

"Ruby what should I wear? I can't find my regular T-shirts! Damn it were did all my flats go!?" A string of (coherent) questions spilled out of her friend's mouth. Some almost mixing together. Ruby calmly walked over to the spazzing teen, grabbed her arm and held her still so that Mari was looking dead at Ruby.

"Calm. The. Fuck. DOWN. There is no need for you to be freaking out like this Mari. Do you not remember how lucky you are? Now just calm down, take a deep breath, and you T-shirts and flats are right next to your bed where they always are." Mari did as she was told. Finally calm enough to think right, Mari made her way to her pile of clothes and flat boots. "Now that you're calm, let's take a look at what you have in regular Tee's." Ruby stood next to Mari who had dumped all her shirts onto her bed and started sorting through them. After several 'no's, 'fuck no's, and a few 'oh fuck burn that piece of shit!' one shirt caught Ruby's eye. She held it up for Mari to see. "How about this one?" Mari stared at it for a little, actually thinking this one over. It was one of her more simple shirts. A plain black and blue checkered v-neck T-shirt, Mari couldn't even remember the last time she wore that one. Hell, she couldn't remember the last time she even wore a T-shirt.

"I don't know, you think it'll look okay?" Ruby gave her a look that said 'Are you fucking kidding me?' Mari knew there was no arguing once that look crossed her best friend's face. Mari quickly changed into the shirt and before she was even able to get to her full body mirror Ruby shoved a pair of skinny jeans into her arms. Once again Mari changed quickly, she waited a few seconds and looked at Ruby, seeing if she would force another article of clothing onto the girl but she merely gave Mari the ok to look in the mirror now. Mari wasn't disappointed with how she looked, but it did feel a little weird. Her chest tattoo wasn't as noticeable now and to her, having part of her tattoos covered looked wrong. Once again, before Mari had time to complain Ruby was handing her eye shadow and eye liner, then went over and started to look through all her boots. Trying to find the perfect pair that would go with the outfit, Mari guessed. After an hour and a half of panic, arguing and second guessing, Mari was finally done getting ready and calm enough to form proper sentences. All that was left was to wait for Eridan to arrive and that was in less than an hour, 45 minuets tops.

Now, let's go check on said sea-dweller shall we? Eridan had sat through an hour and a half of Karkat threatening him that if he fucked today up and did anything to upset Mari he would personally kick his ass. No wonder Mari thought of Karkat as a brother, he fit the role well enough with his protective temper. Although at this point Eridan just wanted to throw (literally throw, admit it, Karkat is small enough that even Nepeta could throw him) the Cancer out of his room so he could get ready but before he had the chance Karkat finally stopped ranting and just said 'Good luck asshole' and left. Eridan just wanted to sit there a just rejoice at the fact he was finally rid of the Cancer but he _had_ to get ready _right now_. There were only about 45 minuets until he had to be at Mari's house and that was about a half hour walk alone. Eridan threw off his sleep wear and put on his usual clothes (minus the cape) and bolted out the front door just barely avoiding a confrontation with Vriska. God only knows what she would've wanted anyway. As Eridan made his way through the streets and took a shortcut through the park, Mari was patiently (freaking the fuck out) waiting for his arrival with Ruby.

The blonde-brunet sat on the couch watching as Mari paced back and forth in front of her. Ruby had given up on trying to get Mari to just sit her ass on the couch and watch some TV while they waited, but in all honesty, watching her best friend freak out over a date with a guy was 10 times better than watching anything on TV. It was about 10 minuets to 3:00 and that's when the sound of Mari's doorbell rang. It actually scared Mari enough to squeak and jump a little. Almost instantly after that Mari calm and collected demeanor was back and in full use. Ruby followed her friend to the door and once it was open she was seriously fucking surprised to see what Eridan looked like. Mari had told her that Eridan and the others were different but she didn't think they would be _that_ different. The dude had fucking grey skin and _horns_. And the whites of his eyes were yellow. _Yellow_. Then when the dude's eyes landed on her his face turned purple. Okay, before Mari was even allowed to leave two steps out her own front door, this bitch was going to explain everything.

"Eridan, this is my friend Ruby. Ruby this is-" Mari got cut off.

"You two. In the house. NOW." Both flinched at the tone in Ruby's voice. After a long and exhausting explanation Ruby finally released the two. Although, now Mari was sure Eridan was scarred for life since Ruby made some 'threats' before they even got out the door.

"Just remember fish boy that is my Mari doesn't come home by 1:00 am I _will_ be forced to take some, 'actions'." Ruby's grin at that moment put Mari's own evil grin to shame. Needless to say the pair bolted out of there as fast as they could. Once at a safe distance, the two slowed down.

"Is Ruby always that vicious towards people?" Eridan asked, looking back, half expecting to see Ruby watching them but saw nothing but strangers.

"Not always, but since this is the first time in a long time I would be alone with a single guy she kinda got a little over protective. But, hey, that's a sign that she's a good friend." Mari laughed a little.

"Well, I never though anyone could make simple threats sound so horrifying and at the same time seem so nice."

"Yeah, Ruby can be like that. Don't worry, once she gets used to you she'll show you her true colors. You just have to gain her trust and that won't be too much of a problem for you." Mari smiled up at Eridan.

"Hey, you're not wearing heels today." Mari looked down then a light blush formed on her face.

"Yeah, Ruby helped me pick out my outfit and she said I wasn't allowed to wear heels today." Eridan lightly chuckled at Mari's slight change in attitude. Before anything else was exchanged between the two a loud 'HONK' was heard and both thought about one certain clown like troll. But it wasn't Gamzee who made that noise, not ten seconds later a clown walked in front of them and handed them a flyer before simply honking her horn again and walking off. Mari looked at the flyer and her eyes seemed to light up. "There's a carnival in town this week! I love carnivals! I haven't been to one since me and Ruby were little!" Mari was bouncing on her heels and Eridan got an idea.

"Do you wanna go?" Mari looked up at him with big round blue eyes.

"Really? You'd really go with me to a carnival?" Her smile was huge and her eyes were sparkling. Eridan smiled.

"Of course." That simple answer made Mari jump up in excitement and squeal in absolute delight. They made there way to the address on the flyer and quickly found the carnival. It was huge and there were so many people there. Mari couldn't believe her eyes at how big the carnival was. Usually they weren't this big but this one was huge. At first they simply walked around for a bit as Mari explained what people usually did at carnivals and how much fun they were then she spotted one of her favorite games. After that, there was no stopping Mari. They played so many games and Eridan even agreed to sit through a small magic show with her. For someone who didn't believe in magic Eridan had been pretty excited throughout the whole show. Afterwards they went to get something to eat, meaning that they ate junk food (what real carnival even has healthy food anyway?).

Mari couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun with someone. Eridan really was too sweet to her. They had been walking and eating some cotton candy when all of a sudden a loud 'BANG' was heard. She looked to the sky and that was when she saw them. The fireworks had started. Eridan looked up too and was amazed and how many colors were exploding into the sky. It was amazing. The two found a bench to sit on as they watched the beautiful display play across the starry night sky, the cotton candy long forgotten. Mari was so happy. She hadn't see fireworks this beautiful in a long time. She leaned over and rested her head against Eridan's shoulder. The Aquarius didn't seem to mind at all, in fact, Mari felt his arm slid around her waist. She was so happy.

"Eridan."

"Yeah Mari." They both looked at each other and in that moment, they smiled and shared their first kiss together. In the back round, a large purple and blue fire work had gone off and it had been in the shape of a heart. The kiss seemed to last forever to the two but of course it did have to end. They broke the kiss and smiled once again at each other. The two watched the rest of the fireworks together and that night became the once night that the two were sure to never forget.


	15. Chapter 15

_***Finally Together***_

_Author's Note:_

_Yes! They are finally an official couple! Yes, I know it took some time but you no longer have to wait for some cutesy romance shit ^^ Sadly there will probably only be maybe 5-7 more chapters of this story including this one and then it is over :( Anyway, enjoy the rest of the story my darlings!_

Eridan had never been happier in his whole life. The day after their date at the carnival he had asked Mari if they were matesprites and, after a moment of confusion and realization, she had said yes. And if it weren't for the fact that they had been in Mari's house at the time, alone, Eridan was sure that anyone within a 10 mile radius would've heard him yell a victorious 'yes'. He got embarrassed after that because to him, he was acting like a total idiot, but Mari just laughed at him and gave him another kiss. Now he was alone in his room smiling like Gamzee while talking to Mari over Trollian (no I am NOT showing you what they are talking about because I just don't feel like it so :P).

Since our love struck troll is otherwise pre-occupied, let's head on down to the living room where our very own Karkat Vantas is watching TV with John Egbert and Sollux Captor. The TV show of choice between these three you may ask? Well, after about 10 minuets of arguing and flipping through channels they finally decided to just watch the crime-drama 'Castle'. Karkat was especially enthralled by this episode. It was called 'The Blue Butterfly' and after only 20 minuets in Karkat was hooked (if you don't watch Castle too bad cause I'm not explaining what the episode is about either).

The end of the episode came a little too fast but the three did enjoy the show and were ready to watch the next episode when they heard the front door open and close and a very familiar voice come from the hallway.

"Damn it Ruby you can't just barge into someone's house like that! I mean I can but they know me." That was no doubt Mari, but did she just say Ruby?

"Oh, come on Mari, lighten up will ya? I've wanted to meet these guys for a while now and every time I've asked to you just avoid… the… subject." A girl with blonde bangs and brunet hair stood at the entrance to the living room with the three boys staring at her. Mari stood next to her and face palmed.

"And this is why we don't barge into other people's houses before I have time to explain more about the people living in said house dip shit." Mari was glaring at Ruby with daggers but soon sighed in defeat. "Karkat, Sollux, John, this is my best friend Ruby. Ruby, the one with two sets of horns is Sollux, the one in the middle is Karkat and the human is Jo- GAHH!" Before Mari could finish she was talked to the ground by a certain cat-like troll.

"Mari! Hello~ I haven't seen you in furever!" Nepeta, instead of getting up, decided to sit on top of Mari.

"Hi Nepeta. Ruby, this is Nepeta and-"

"I see Nep has already greeted you." Mari turned her head and looked up into the smiling face of her boyfriend/matesprite Eridan.

"Yeah, hi Eridan. I was gonna knock but you really should keep your doors locked." Mari said as she gave Ruby another glare to which the blonde-brunet smirked.

"Your glares are _so_ convincing when you have a cat-girl sitting on top of you." Mari could just taste the sarcasm, so she decided to get a little payback. She waved Nepeta to come closer and whispered something into her ear and the Leo instantly gave a feral grin while removing herself from Mari's mid-section. After that Nepeta scampered off down the hall. "What the hell was that?" Ruby looked suspiciously at her friend. Mari stood up, brushed herself off and gave Eridan a quick kiss before turning to face her friend with an evil grin on her face.

"I have not the faintest clue as to what your statement is pertaining to my dear Ruby." Ruby's eyes narrowed.

"Like hell you don't. Anyway," Ruby walked into the living room and took a seat on the smaller couch next to the main one. "So these are your other friends?" The way Ruby was eyeing Karkat and the other two was making all three squirm in their seats. "Well?" Karkat gulped.

"Well what?" This girl was seriously intimidating. Karkat was surprised his voice didn't waver.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourselves? Seems pretty rude that you didn't do so already." Ruby crossed her legs and folded her hands on her lap.

"Well-" Karkat was cut off by John who jumped up and stood in front of Ruby.

"Hi! My name's John Egbert. Nice to meet you Ruby. Mari's actually said a few things about you. But don't worry! They were nice things." John held out his hand. Ruby was looking at him with unimpressed eyes that said 'Is this kid on drugs?' but she shook his hand anyway.

"Nice to meet you John." She turned her attention back to the two still sitting. "And you two are?" Now Karkat could answer.

"I'm Karkat Vantas and that's Sollux Captor." Sollux just gave a sort of half wave. Ruby raised an eyebrow at the two. Mari and Eridan stood behind them and Mari was just face palming so hard right now. Why did Ruby have to intimidate EVERYONE?

"Ruby I think you've interrogated them enough. My God are you trying to break them or something?" Ruby looked back at Mari. Then a giant smile broke out on her face and finally she started laughing.

"Ok! Ok! Jeez! Excuse me for just trying to see who my best friend is hanging out with. Sorry if I scared you guys. It really is nice to _finally_ meet you because _someone_ wouldn't let me over here to see you." Mari laughed and took a seat next to Karkat as Eridan sat next to her.

"Well, excuse _me _for not know how you would react to my friends being aliens from another planet, not to mention that it's a planet from another fucking dimension. Yes, I am _so sorry_ for that." After that the atmosphere calmed once again and Ruby started telling stories about her and Mari from when they were younger, and yes, she did embarrass Mari. It was around Ruby's third story that Karkat noticed something in the corner of his eye. There was defiantly something moving behind Ruby's seat. Before Karkat could get a better look at what it was, it pounced. Nepeta let out a hunter's growl before landing on top of Ruby, effectively pushing her to the floor and pinning her to the ground, then letting out a victory cry and high five-ing Mari right after.

"Damn it I knew you planned something!" Ruby struggled to get Nepeta off her back but was failing quiet miserably. After a few failed attempts to throw the Leo off her back Ruby sighed and gave up. "Can you please tell her to get off me?" Mari had the biggest shit eating grin on her face when Ruby looked up at her.

"I don't know. Nepeta, do you feel like getting up?" Said troll shifted slightly on top of Ruby.

"Nope. I feel purretty comfurrtable right here." Ruby let out a loud sigh. Damn Mari and her fucking evil mind.

"If I say sorry for earlier will you make her get off of me?" Ruby said with pure annoyance in her voice. Mari hummed as if thinking over the situation.

"Maybe, maybe not. Let's try it." Now Ruby _knew _that the four boys and Nepeta were enjoying just watching her lie there helpless. Inwardly groaning and swearing to herself, Ruby took in a deep breath. She was going to kill Mari later.

"I'm sorry for making fun of you earlier." Almost instantly, Nepeta had gotten off of Ruby and she was finally able to breath normally again. When she looked back at Mari she saw that her friend was patting Nepeta's head and telling her that she did a good job. Yep, Mari was gonna get her ass kicked later on.

"Now that I've exacted my revenge why don't we meet the other members of this household, shall we?" Mari and Ruby made their way down the halls and their first stop was to see Gamzee and Tavros. Thankfully the two weren't all over each other this time and didn't scar Ruby. Next they met Vriska, needless to say Ruby likes her in particular. Then it was Kanaya and Terezi who were walking out of Kanaya's room. Then they saw Feferi and, putting their slight hatred for each other aside, Mari very nicely introduced Feferi to Ruby. Finally they found Nepeta and Equies in the Sagittarius' room. After that, Ruby was finally formally introduced to everybody, aside from Dave, Rose and Jade but she'd meet them some other time. It was already pretty late now, they had spent a considerable amount of time with each troll and now it was time for Ruby to go home.

"Well, I gotta say Mari, you have some grade A friends." Mari laughed. Ruby wasn't wrong.

"Thanks Ruby. I'm stayin here for a little longer. I'll talk to ya tomorrow?"

"Of course, you are like my sister. No way I'm just gonna ignore ya." The two girls shared a hug and then Ruby was out the door. Mari walked back into the living room and plopped down next to Eridan with a sigh.

"Exhausted?" Mari looked at Eridan and smiled.

"I thought she was gonna kill me, but I'm glad she got to meet everyone." Mari rested her head on Eridan shoulder and the Aquarius wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I thought she was really nice." John chimed in and at that everyone started to laugh. The kid really was oblivious sometimes, but he wasn't wrong. Ruby really was nice to everyone today. Mari was happy. Her best friend liked her boyfriend and her new friends. That was something to be happy about. Little did Mari know that in the future, she was going to have the scare of her life.


	16. Chapter 16

_***Summer Scare***_

_Author's note:_

_I know this is a huge time skip from early November to late June but I had to with the way I ended the last chapter. As for what happened in that huge time skip Eridan and Mari are getting really serious and Ruby has become more involved with the trolls. All has gone well and Mari is now taking a vacation from her job now that it is summer and Ruby will be making a few more appearances as well. That's about it and again, sorry about the time skip, but I hope you enjoy beach scenes because that's what's happening in this chapter ;) Enjoy~_

_By the way: Due to the fact that I am having a sever case of writers block but really want to finish this story if there is a small time skip then it means I am too fucking lazy to write out what happened or I genuinely didn't know what to write._

The warm rays of the sun felt nice on Mari's pale skin. The goth girl was making her way over to her favorite place in the town, the home of the trolls. Since so many people lived there she always called it that, although she should just start calling it the Chaos house since that's what's always happening there. Mari was crossing the street with her overnight bag slung across her shoulder. Just last week she had told Luke she was taking a nice, _long_ vacation this summer. It was late June now and Mari was excited. Since she lived a good half hour away from everyone Kanaya had suggested that she spend the summer at the troll's house. At first Mari objected, not wanting to cause trouble, but when Kanaya had hinted (flat out said it) that she could stay in Eridan's room with him Mari didn't argue. Today was also the day that everyone was going to the beach. Ruby had been the one to suggest (basically whine and beg until everyone said yes) that everyone should go. The only one who had been reluctant to go was Karkat, but after some puppy dog looks from both Mari and Ruby the Cancer had finally cracked and agreed to go. The second Mari opened the door with the spare key Sollux had made her she was greeted, surprisingly, by Ruby.

"Yo! Mari, you finally made it here!" The blonde-brunet was smiling and then started tugging Mari into the living room.

"Yeah I made it but what are you doing here Ruby?" It wasn't the fact the Ruby was there that really confused Mari, it was the fact that Ruby was there _before_ Mari had gotten there.

"I'm coming on this beach trip too ya know? I just wanted to make sure no one bailed out on us." As Ruby dragged the multi-color haired girl into the living room Mari saw that not only were all the trolls packed and ready for the day John, Jade, Dave and Rose were there too. Everyone seemed ready to go. Everyone, except Mari. She didn't expect everyone to be ready so early, then again, when Ruby set her mind on something she damn well made sure it happened right. "Oh, and we're not just staying at the beach for just a day."

"What?" Now Mari was even more confused than before. What did Ruby mean by that? Looking over at her friend Mari saw a huge grin on Ruby's face. "Ruby? What did you plan?"

"Well, I pulled a few strings and now you, me, and this lot are gonna be staying at a five star resort for the whole month of July!" If jaws dropping could make a sound Mari was sure the whole city would've heard everyone's jaws drop to the floor.

"We're what! Ruby! You did not!" Mari was ecstatic and it seemed everyone else was too. Forget unpacking, Mari was gonna need everything in her bag if she was gonna be staying at a five-star resort for a whole month. "Oh my God, Ruby!" Mari hugged her best friend so tight she swore she heard the wind fly out of Ruby's lungs. Mari pulled back and then something crossed her mind. "Where is the resort and how the fuck are we getting there?" Ruby only smiled more as everyone heard a loud horn from outside the house. Mari opened the curtains and once again everyone was stunned. There was a luxury bus parked outside. With Luke, yes Mari's boss Luke, at the driver's seat. "Ruby you bitch! I can't believe you!" Mari hugged her friend once again and in no time at all, everyone was on the bus and they were on the road. One thing was for sure, this summer was defiantly going to be fun.

_*One 2 hour bus ride later*_

Mari couldn't fucking believe it. In just two short hours the city had completely disappeared and they were all standing in front of one of the most beautiful resorts Mari had ever seen in her life. No wonder the place was given five-stars, it was amazing!

"Ruby, I don't know if I've ever said this before but I'll be damned if you haven't just made a fucking miracle happen! This place is fucking amazing!" The whole group was buzzing with chatter and anticipation with what was to come out of this trip.

"Well if you think this is amazing wait till you see the rooms we have." Ruby led the group to the hotel and she did not disappoint. The inside was even more extravagant than the outside. She gave the front desk lady her last name and then all of them were led to the very top floor. "Okay, so each room up here can hold 2-4 people so everyone pick your roommates. No one sleeps alone in a room and I do not want to hear any arguments from anyone ya hear?" No one said a word. Before Mari and Eridan were even able to get five steps away from the group Ruby had started to pull them to the end of the hall. "This is your room Mari." When Ruby opened the door Mari couldn't believe it. It was one of the most extravagant rooms in the whole hotel. "Now, once everyone is done unpacking I want you all down at the beach by 2:00. I actually plan on getting some sun while we're here." And with that Ruby left the two alone. The two quickly unpacked when they noticed it was 15 minuets till 2:00, Mari quickly changed into a bathing suit and a cover up, and both made their way to the beach.

_*About a half hour later*_

Mari was having the time of her life. She was currently enjoying herself on nice beach chair with a lovely Strawberry Daiquiri (non-alcoholic of course, I'm not that fucked up people) and catching some sun. She had never been able to relax like this before and she usually hated the sun on most days, but this was like heaven to her. Ruby sat right next to her with her back to the sun.

"Isn't the nice Mari? You and me spending time together and having a blast with the trolls." Mari laughed lightly while Ruby gave a sigh of pure bliss.

"Don't forget John and the others. They're here too ya know, and yeah, this is the best."

"It would be better if you took off that stupid cover up you're wearing." There it is. Yes Mari was laying out in the sun but she still hadn't taken off her cover up. Which meant that the only skin that was receiving sun right now were her arms legs and face.

"I'll take it off later Ruby."

"No, you'll take it off now." Mari heard Ruby sit up and then she felt her shadow pass over her. Yep, Ruby was serious. Mari sighed and sat up as well, looking up at her best friend and staring right into Ruby's eyes.

"If I take it off will you leave me alone for the rest of the day?" With a nod from Ruby, Mari sighed again and stood up. Grabbing the bottom of the cover up she pulled it over her head and threw it onto her bag that was next to her chair. "Better?" To say the least, even Ruby was surprised and how amazing Mari looked in her bikini. The black top had two large skulls on each side (basically two big ass skulls on her boobs people) with red X's behind them and the bottoms, also black, had a large red X on the front and back. Mari swore she heard Dave wolf whistle. And there was also another thing that Ruby was staring at, Mari's new tattoo. It was a purple Aquarius symbol on the right side of her rib cage.

"Damn Mari! When were you going to tell me you got a new tat!" Mari rolled her eyes.

"Of course you're more worried about the tattoo than anything else. I got it about two months ago. Like it?" Ruby nodded with excitement.

"Of course! But, aren't you a Cancer?" Mari smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, but aren't you a Scorpio and have a Capricorn tattoo?" Ruby went red in the face.

"I told you that it was a dare and I don't back down from any kind of dare!" Mari burst out laughing. That always got Ruby worked up. After calming down and apologizing, the two made their way into the water to have a bit of fun. It started out nice and calm but then Mari felt something brush against her leg. Thinking it was noting she just went back to her conversation with Rose. Then it happened again. She looked around the water but couldn't see anything wrong. And then, she got pulled under. Not even three seconds later she was back above water and glaring with a passion the now hysterical Dave and John. Rose saw Mari's eye twitch and started to back up, although the smile on her face showed that she couldn't wait for what was about to happen. Mari lunged at Dave first, catching him by his swim trunks. She yanked them so hard Dave went under and when she pulled again she held his trunks in her hand, no Dave in them at all. Dave came back up but wasn't too happy. Glares and grins were exchanged before the fight for Dave's trunks began. Needless to say, Mari won, again.

After Mari gave an now embarrassed Dave Strider his trunks back, the teen decided to rest a bit back in her seat. Even though she hadn't actually been swimming, moving around in the water can tire anyone out. Before she could relax though she felt and hand grab hers and start tugging her in the opposite direction of her chair. Looking to the person she saw it was Eridan, he was smiling at her and kept tugging her lightly in the direction of a cliff that was close by. Catching the hint Mari picked up the pace, still holding hands with Eridan. They made their way up the hill, making it a race to see who would get to the top first. It was a close call, but Mari had won. Just because she was tired didn't mean she wasn't going to try and win against her own boyfriend.

"So, any reason you wanted to be up here and not in the water Fishy?" Mari smiled, knowing that calling Eridan 'Fishy' would get her a nice little scowl, and of course she was right. Eridan scowled and walked past her.

"I wanted to come up here so we would be bothered." Mari giggled and sat down at the edge of the cliff, hanging her feet over the edge. Eridan smiled and sat down next to her.

"I know, thanks Eridan." Mari looked out over the ocean. "It's beautiful up here. I love the view." The two shared a few laughs and sat in a nice blissful silence for a bit, just watching the group from the cliff. The laughs were cut short though when a voice sounded from behind the pair.

"Well would you look at this? I never thought I would see you here of all place's Widow." Mari froze. She knew that only one person had ever called her by that name in public. She stood up and turned around, reluctantly looking in the face of the one person she thought she would never see again. She immediately glared daggers.

"The feeling is mutual Weaver." Mari's voice was flat and emotionless. Eridan was standing beside her and she saw Weaver stare at him with a dark interest. "Eridan, stay out of this and don't say a word." Eridan knew better than to question Mari, but that didn't stop him from wondering who this guy was and why he called Mari 'Widow'.

"So Widow, who's the freak?" He spat the word 'freak', his voice oozing with venom. Mari growled.

"He's not a freak Weaver, and stop calling me Widow. That named died a long time ago." Weaver's eyes suddenly turned dark.

"Oh, that's right. The Widow we knew," he motioned to the two boys standing be his sides. "Was 'rescued' by, what was that bitch's name again? Oh, right, Ruby!" Mari growled deep in her throat. She took a step towards the boys.

"Don't you dare call Ruby a bitch." Weaver was grinning.

"Why? She took away one of the best members the gang had ever seen. Why did you leave huh Widow? You were the strongest girl we had ever seen. You could get anyone out of any kind of sticky situation. Ya know, the day you left was one of the saddest days the gang had ever seen. Not long after, things just fell apart. Now, everyone is spread out, in hiding." Mari knew Weaver didn't actually care, this whole time he'd been grinning. He was holding something back, she could tell.

"I don't care Weaver. Just go away and leave me alone." Another dark glare from him, but Mari wasn't backing down, she stood her ground and glared right back.

"Ya know you grew up pretty good. Lookin' real sexy there Widow." Another growl from Mari killed any thoughts Weaver was having. "You think you scare me? I've grown too Widow." A sudden quick movement and Mari was suddenly cut short of breath. Weaver had his hand wrapped around her neck. Eridan was about to jump in but the two who had been standing by were now holding him back. A loud clap of thunder sounded and Weaver's eyes darkened. Mari couldn't feel the ground any more and panic was starting to set in. The wind started to pick up and she could hear the ocean roaring beneath her and started to feel light rain drops on her skin. "Why don't we see how well our little spider does in the water."

And then, he let go.


	17. Chapter 17

_***Summer Scare Part 2***_

_*Last Chapter*_

"_Ya know you grew up pretty good. Lookin' real sexy there Widow." Another growl from Mari killed any thoughts Weaver was having. "You think you scare me? I've grown too Widow." A sudden quick movement and Mari was suddenly cut short of breath. Weaver had his hand wrapped around her neck. Eridan was about to jump in but the two who had been standing by were now holding him back. A loud clap of thunder sounded and Weaver's eyes darkened. Mari couldn't feel the ground any more and panic was starting to set in. The wind started to pick up and she could hear the ocean roaring beneath her and started to feel light rain drops on her skin. "Why don't we see how well our little spider does in the water."_

_And then, he let go._

_*End of Last Chapter*_

Time stood still as the group watched in horror from below. Mari was hung over the cliff by her neck and no one but Ruby knew who the guy was. They saw Eridan struggling to get free from the two who held him back and then, Ruby screamed. The boy who had been holding Mari let go, and Mari feel. All eyes were now on Ruby, who now took off running towards the cliff.

"Ruby! Wait!" Karkat yelled as he started after Ruby.

"She can't swim!" Ruby suddenly tripped over a small sand pit and Karkat and the others stood frozen behind her. She looked back to the cliff just in time to see Mari hit the roaring waters below. "Mari can't swim!" Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

_*On the Cliff*_

Eirdan struggled to get free but the two boys were stronger than they looked. As he struggled he was able to see Mari doing the same. She was clawing at Weaver's hands, panic filling her eyes.

"Let her go damn it!" Eridan tried pulling away again but a sharp hit to his gills stopped him. He looked up at Weaver through tear filled eyes and saw the guy was smiling.

"Oh, I'll let her go." He looked back at Mari. Her eyes filling with fear now. She started struggling more, kicking and scratching but nothing she did made a difference.

"Weaver… don't do it! You know damn well…" She was able to catch a look down at the raging waters below her. "You know I can't swim!" If Mari had had the time to see Eridan's face when she said that she would have wanted to take back her words. Eridan looked shocked but also slightly hurt. No wonder she was reluctant to go into the water.

"I know." Weaver's voice was filled with nothing but poison and then, the pressure on her throat was gone. It seemed time has stopped for a moment, and Mari hung in the air. Then she felt it, gravity set in and she could feel the rain hitting her face lighter and her back harder. She screamed as she fell. She screamed so loud that even Ruby and the others could hear her. Just before she hit the water Mari was lucky enough to take in a deep breath, but once that cold ocean had her, that breath was gone.

Eridan was back at the top of the cliff and the three boys were now laughing hysterically. Taking this as an opportunity, he elbowed one of his captors in the gut and was able to make a break for the edge. Not thinking twice, he jumped. The wind seemed to slice his face as he fell but soon, cold and harsh winds were replace back even stronger and harsher water currents. Panic was starting to set in for Eridan when he realized he couldn't see Mari anywhere under the water. The currents were even stronger because of the storm but he should be able to see her. Eridan started to swim lower and deeper, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mari. He couldn't see her. No matter where he looked he couldn't see her. Eridan knew he had only a matter of minutes before it was too late to save Mari, and then he saw it. The flash of yellow and bright blue. He turned his head and that's when he saw her. There she was! He saw fast to her side. Grabbing her arm and then darting upwards. He broke surface and pulled Mari up with him. At first it seemed at though she wasn't breathing, but then she coughed. Water sputtered out of her mouth and Eridan did his best to keep them both above the water's surface. Mari opened her eyes but instead of saying anything she screamed again. Eridan looked up and saw a huge wave right in front of them.

The wave crashed down on them and they were sent spiraling under the water. Eridan was fine but he saw large air bubbles escaping from Mari's open mouth. He quickly swam up the surface again so Mari could regain her lost breath once again. Once he made it, he heard a loud gasp from Mari and held her closer for fear of another wave coming their way again. He looked to the shore and saw that they were, thankfully, close, but the current weather conditions made it impossible for him to swim above the water with Mari. The current was pulling them out to sea and it was getting stronger with each passing minuet.

"Mari! Mari listen to me." Said teen looked up at Eridan with panic and fear still plastered in her eyes. "Take a deep breath okay? We have to go under again." Mari shook her head vigorously. Eridan could feel her shaking. "Mari look at me." She did. "Do you trust me?" She looked at him, fear still clear in her eyes, but she nodded. Eridan smiled at her. "Then breathe, and don't let go of that breath when we're under okay?" She did what she was told, and then Eridan went under. He swam as fast as he could, not wanting Mari to have to hold her breath for too long. He could only imagine how much her lungs must be hurting. Finally re resurfaced for the last time and he heard Mari take in a huge breath of air.

Both now the two lay on the sand, soaked and cold, but most of all exhausted. Everyone had rushed over to them, Ruby still frantic and on the verge of hyperventilation. She knelt down beside her friend, almost in tears, asking if Mari was okay. Mari sat on her hands and knees coughing up mouthfuls of sea water, unable to speak just yet. Eridan sat next to her, lightly rubbing her back to try and help her with the expulsion of the foreign substance from her lungs. Finally when she was able to breath without coughing directly afterwards she fell back to the sandy ground with a deep breath.

"Mari, are you okay?!" Ruby was still hovering over her and Mari could feel the others staring at her, but mostly she could feel the rain still pouring down on her freezing skin.

"I-I'm fine. J-just, let's get i-inside. I'm f-freezing o-out here." She got back up and looked at everyone with a smile on her face. Relief washed over everyone and Eridan helped Mari up to her feet.

_*At the hotel*_

Back at the hotel, everyone decided to stay in one room and warm up. Staying outside in the middle of a storm while one of your friends almost dies can really cause people (and trolls) to become paranoid. Everyone was dry and the heat had been turned on due to the fact that everyone, especially Mari, was still frozen to their bones from staying outside in only bathing suits for a good half hour. Mari was surprised that she didn't have hypothermia, but she was glad that she was back at the hotel, with Eridan holding her close, and all her friends there with her. No one said anything, honestly, there was nothing to say. Everyone had been scared almost to death and that was that. But Mari's mind was a running circuit system. She knew that this wasn't over. Weaver wasn't going to stop just like that. At lease, that's what the old Weaver would be like. She hadn't seen him in six years so it was possible that this would be it, an attempt to kill her and then leave her alone. But Mari knew better, in the back of her mind, she knew.

Weaver would come back for her, one way or another.


End file.
